Notre-Dame bells to ring for seven minutes to welcome Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV begins his apostolic journey to France on Friday, September 25, and the day will open with the ringing of church bells across Paris. He will visit Notre-Dame cathedral, the first pope to enter it since its reopening, and end the day at a prayer vigil with thousands of young people in Saint-Denis.

Preparations in the French capital are intensifying on Thursday, September 24. The official program runs from September 25 to 28 and includes stops in Paris, Saint-Denis, Lourdes and Metz. To mark the start of the visit, the bells of Paris will ring for seven minutes, a gesture intended to bring the city's residents together for the occasion.

From midday, music and celebrations will fill the streets along the popemobile route, a pedestrian stretch of about 2.5 kilometers running from the boulevard du Montparnasse, by the church of Notre-Dame des Champs, to the place Saint-Michel. Security along the route will be organized in 12 welcome zones, each with its own screening point.

Inside the cathedral, candles have been set out bearing the motto and logo of the pope's trip. More than 50 amateur musical groups and hundreds of volunteers will take part in the festivities, which will give way to a time of prayer and reflection from 4 p.m., before the pope passes by, expected between 4 and 5 p.m. An act of thanksgiving at 5 p.m. will close the sequence.

Leo XIV will be the first pope to visit Notre-Dame since it reopened on December 8, 2024, following the fire of April 2019.

Before arriving at Notre-Dame, the pope will meet UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay at the organization's headquarters, where he will give an address to representatives of member states, alternating between English and French. The day will take up challenges facing the international community and the role of education, culture and science in building peace. The event is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.

Friday ends in Saint-Denis, at the Stade de France, where Leo XIV will take part at 9 p.m. in a prayer vigil with young people. The stadium doors open at 5:15 p.m., and the vigil runs from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Chairs have been set out on the esplanade in front of Notre-Dame, and preparations continue inside the cathedral ahead of the pope's arrival.