Pope Leo's Paris trip to highlight support for Arab-world Christians

Pope Leo XIV is set to make a three-day visit to France, where he will offer prayers at Notre-Dame Cathedral and show support for Christian communities in the Arab world. During his first visit to France since beginning his papacy last year, Pope Leo will meet with President Emmanuel Macron at the airport on Friday. Following the airport greeting, Pope Leo will visit UNESCO headquarters and drive through Paris in the Popemobile before leading prayers at the recently renovated Notre-Dame.

The cathedral's reopening in December 2024 coincided with the unveiling of a chapel dedicated to Christian denominations in the Middle East and Asia, following the Archbishop of Paris's request. The chapel, one of 29 chapels inside the cathedral, was redesigned to include eight icons representing various Eastern churches, such as Jerusalem, Baghdad, Armenia, Ethiopia, and India.

The inclusion of these icons highlights the Church's eastern roots and aims to remind Christian pilgrims and visitors of Christianity's origins in the East. Pope Leo's visit is seen as a significant moment, as he will not only pray in the chapel but also greet representatives of Eastern churches present in France. The number of Christians in the Middle East, a predominantly Muslim region, has significantly decreased in recent decades.

To show support, Pope Leo chose Lebanon as his first destination abroad in December, given the country's large Christian population. In 1997, Pope John Paul II called Lebanon "more than a country: it is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for East and West." L'Oeuvre d'Orient, the organization that founded the chapel, has also rebuilt churches destroyed by ISIS in Mosul, Iraq.

Mgr Hugues de Woillemont, the director of L'Oeuvre d'Orient, described Pope Leo's visit as a "great gift" to France, praising the remaining Christians who choose to remain in their countries, emphasizing the importance of their role in the region's history.