{
  "id": 10084727,
  "title": "Hundreds of thousands in Paris cheer Pope Leo in largest event of French tour",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/hundreds-of-thousands-in-paris-cheer-pope-leo-in-largest-event-of-10084727",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-26T23:11:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
    "slug": "the-sydney-morning-herald",
    "url": "https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/hundreds-of-thousands-in-paris-cheer-pope-leo-in-largest-event-of-french-tour-20260927-p610s6.html?ref=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Pope Leo XIV visited Paris as part of a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots. An estimated 800,000 people gathered in central Paris for an outdoor mass, the largest event of his visit. The mass was held on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where chants of \"Leo, Leo\" and \"Long live the Pope\" echoed through the crowd.\n\nDuring the mass, Pope Leo urged Catholics to find happiness in faith, not material things. He also rode along the Champs Elysees in an open-top Popemobile, blessing people with disabilities, children, and babies. The crowd included several high-profile attendees, such as Brigitte Macron, the French president's wife, and Marine Le Pen, a far-right leader.\n\nAfter the Paris mass, Pope Leo travelled to Lourdes, where he prayed at the Grotto of Massabielle, a holy shrine associated with the visions reported by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet seven French victims of abuse by Catholic clergy, as well as French bishops, and celebrate another outdoor Mass at the sanctuary. According to a 2021 inquiry, clergy or lay members of the Church had abused about 330,000 people as minors in France over seven decades.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 8,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CBS News",
        "title": "Pope Leo attracts 700,000 worshipers to Paris Mass in historic France visit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/pope-leo-attracts-700-000-worshipers-to-paris-mass-in-historic-france",
        "published": "2026-09-26T14:51:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "France 24",
        "title": "Pope Leo XIV calls to protect migrants during his official visit to France",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/pope-leo-xiv-calls-to-protect-migrants-during-his-official-visit-to",
        "published": "2026-09-26T16:16:26.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Hundreds of thousands in Paris cheer Pope Leo in largest event of French tour",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/hundreds-of-thousands-in-paris-cheer-pope-leo-in-largest-event-of",
        "published": "2026-09-26T17:45:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "BBC News",
        "title": "Watch: Thousands turn out to see Pope during Lourdes and Paris visit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/watch-thousands-turn-out-to-see-pope-during-lourdes-and-paris-visit",
        "published": "2026-09-26T18:27:20.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euronews",
        "title": "Pope Leo XIV draws 800,000 faithful to Paris before emotional Lourdes pilgrimage",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/pope-leo-xiv-draws-800-000-faithful-to-paris-before-emotional-lourdes",
        "published": "2026-09-26T21:48:36.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Age",
        "title": "Hundreds of thousands in Paris cheer Pope Leo in largest event of French tour",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/hundreds-of-thousands-in-paris-cheer-pope-leo-in-largest-event-of-10084767",
        "published": "2026-09-26T23:11:26.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "Pope Leo draws 800,000 people to open-air mass in Paris",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/26/pope-leo-draws-800-000-people-to-open-air-mass-in-paris",
        "published": "2026-09-26T23:49:58.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}