Pope Leo XIV received the presidency of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF) this Friday, August 28, at the Vatican, four weeks before the apostolic journey that will take the Pontiff to Paris, Lourdes, and Metz between September 25 and 28.
According to the Holy See Press Office in its Friday audience bulletin, the meeting was attended by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille and President of the CEF; Vincent Jordy, Archbishop of Tours and Vice-President; and Benoît Bertrand, Bishop of Pontoise and also Vice-President. The Vatican did not provide details about the content of the conversation.
The audience comes as preparations enter their final phase for a four-day visit during which Leo XIV will meet with French authorities, the episcopate, clergy, and the faithful, as well as visit the UNESCO headquarters and participate in events in Paris, Lourdes, and Metz.
Read also: Thus will be the journey of Leo XIV to France: from UNESCO to the Grotto of Massabielle
Meeting with Macron at the Élysée
The first day will begin on Friday, September 25, in Paris. After the welcome ceremony, Leo XIV will go to the Élysée Palace, where he will meet with President Emmanuel Macron and later address the authorities, representatives of civil society, and members of the diplomatic corps.
The meeting will take place in a context marked by several reforms promoted during Macron’s presidency, which the Catholic Church has publicly opposed. In March 2024, France incorporated into its Constitution the “guaranteed freedom” of women to resort to abortion. The French president has also pushed for changes to legislation on end-of-life care and the so-called “assisted dying,” repeatedly rejected by the French episcopate.
That same day, the Pope will visit the UNESCO headquarters and later go to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, restored after the fire of April 2019, where he will preside over Vespers with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and seminarians.
Lourdes and the meeting with abuse victims
On Sunday the 27th, already in Lourdes, Leo XIV will meet again with the French bishops and preside over Mass at the shrine. The program also includes a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse in the Church.
The visit will take place while the process initiated by the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, regarding the works of Marko Rupnik present at the shrine continues. Micas decided to progressively cover the mosaics after accusations of sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse made by several women against the former Slovenian Jesuit.
Final stage in Metz
Leo XIV will conclude his trip on Monday, September 28, in Metz, in the French region of Grand Est. There he will participate in an interreligious meeting and later in another event titled “At the Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity.”
The day will end with the celebration of Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral before the Pontiff’s return to Rome.
Friday’s audience with the CEF presidency thus comes in the final stretch of preparations for the trip.