Pope Leo XIV sets out a single 'road map' for the Church in France

Pope Leo XIV met the French bishops on Sunday, September 27, in an auditorium near the grotto at Lourdes to set out the path of the Church in France, whose motto is "so that the world may have life." He spoke of the country's spiritual greatness and urged the bishops "to show courage, boldness and missionary creativity," to rise with hope and not to grow tired "of proclaiming the Gospel."

In that address the pope was direct: "There is only one road map, and it is always the same: to make Jesus Christ known and loved, authentically, with passion, again and again." He added that the Church in France is a small flock that must join forces for the mission.

France's spiritual heritage

The pope placed that mission within the country's long Christian history: "Since St. Irenaeus and the baptism of Clovis, the soul of your homeland has developed by drawing on Christianity to forge a spiritual, cultural, intellectual, artistic and missionary genius whose influence today radiates throughout the world." He also recalled the humanism that flourished in 16th-century France and sought to unite the Greco-Roman heritage with the Christian faith.

The pope listed the gifts granted to France: an unbroken chain of holiness that reaches to the present day; the arts, letters and sciences that flourished in the warmth of the faith; an awareness, now irreversible, of the inalienable value of the human person; and the formidable missionary drive that has borne fruit to the ends of the earth.

Catechumens and the fruits of the Holy Spirit

At his meeting with catechumens and the newly baptized at the Catholic Institute of Paris, the pope said he saw in them "the fruit of the Spirit who has set them on the way and, at the same time, a promise of fruitfulness for the Church in France." He asked them to be "missionaries of the Gospel in this society," and offered French saints such as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. Martin of Tours as spiritual guides.

Message to 80,000 young people in Saint-Denis

Before 80,000 young people gathered at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, on the northern edge of Paris, the pope said: "For us, to live is Christ!" He said Christian missionary zeal does not clash with respect for other religious traditions: "Our mission does not contradict respect for other religions, because the Church rejects nothing of what is holy and true in them."

To illustrate the point, he named a series of French saints and martyrs: St. Eugene de Mazenod, St. John Mary Vianney, St. Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Pauline Jaricot, along with 50 martyrs of the Second World War who gave their lives. "The saints changed the course of history, bringing many from suffering to hope, because they first changed their own hearts, transforming them in the light of faith," he said.

To those discerning a vocation, the pope said: "The Lord does not speak to you in a confused way; he addresses each one by name and invites you to follow him because he loves you. Welcoming his Gospel with a clear mind and a pure heart, you will understand how Jesus is calling you to serve. It is always a gift of life: full, faithful, overflowing with love."

After Lourdes, the pope closed the trip in Metz, a city long disputed between France and Germany and now a symbol of reconciliation. From the Robert Schuman Congress Center, named after one of the founding fathers of the European Union, he delivered a message of peace for the continent.