All 80,000 places for Pope Leo XIV's youth vigil at the Stade de France taken in under an hour

Pope Leo XIV will visit France from September 25 to 28, and registration for the events has filled quickly, according to the French-language site fr.aleteia.org.

All 80,000 places for the youth vigil with the pope at the Stade de France were taken in less than an hour. The following day, September 26, about 600,000 people are expected at the Mass in the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Elysees. Because of the expected turnout, organizers have extended the perimeter for the celebration as far as the Place de l'Etoile and the Avenue de la Grande Armee. In Lourdes, the shrine reached its maximum capacity of 150,000 a month before the pope's arrival and closed registration in a single day. In Metz, where Leo XIV will celebrate the closing Mass on September 28, about 40,000 people have signed up.

More than 2,500 journalists have been accredited and 15,000 volunteers will be deployed in Paris. It is the first papal visit to France in 18 years, since Benedict XVI traveled to the country in 2008.

A figure of moral authority

Martin Dumont, a historian who specializes in the history of French Catholicism, said that "when a pope comes, it is always a moment of breathing outside of time." That generates interest beyond the faithful, he said. The pope, Dumont said, represents "a figure of moral authority" whose voice can be "illuminating and reassuring."

The writer and journalist Bernard Lecomte said the large turnout expected is no surprise. "There are always people at every visit of the pope," he said. He recalled that more than a million people attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Paris with John Paul II in 1997, and that 1.5 million young people gathered with Pope Francis at the final Mass of World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023. Dumont said papal visits have drawn interest since Pius VII came to Paris for Napoleon's coronation in 1804.

Lecomte offered an explanation for the enduring interest in the pope: "He embodies hope." He added: "The spiritual vacuum also creates curiosity: why is he coming and what is he going to say?" After Leo XIV's visit to Spain in June, 76.8 percent of Spaniards surveyed called the visit "positive" or "very positive," and 54.8 percent described him as an "ethical and moral reference" for society as a whole, not only for Catholics.

A sense of community

There is also a desire to gather that goes beyond the pope himself. "Everyone has their own reasons for attending, but there is a need to come together around a person and with others," Dumont said. In a country where religious practice is less visible than it once was, he said, these large events let Catholics see that they are not alone.

Simon, 26, will attend the vigil at the Stade de France and the Mass the next day. "His arrival is an event that will bring French Catholics together in one place, and a pope doesn't come to France every day!" he said. Thibaut, 22, a member of the Instagram account @generacionleonxiv, said the same. "We have seen that young people, and even the less young, are searching for faith," he said, adding that the pope's visit gives that search a concrete face.

Charlotte, 32, attended World Youth Day in Madrid with Benedict XVI. She said she was looking forward to the Mass on the Champs-Elysees, which she called "the most symbolic event." She said she was particularly moved that a figure of such standing would "take the time" to meet French Catholics.