Pope Leo XIV France visit began on a striking note Friday, as the pontiff used his opening address to raise deep questions about humanity’s future in an age dominated by artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, and other forces that threaten the sanctity of life. Speaking first at the Élysée Palace before President Emmanuel Macron and other officials, and later to diplomats and UN staff at UNESCO headquarters, Leo made clear that this trip would be about far more than ceremony.

A Milestone Moment for Macron

For Macron, who cannot run for a third term in next year’s elections, welcoming the American-born pope carries real symbolic weight. His predecessor, Pope Francis, spent twelve years as pontiff without ever agreeing to a full state visit to France, even turning down an invitation to attend the reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame in 2024, a project Macron had personally championed.

Charles Mercier, who studies the history and sociology of Catholicism at Paris’s EPHE university, noted that standing beside the pope offers Macron a chance to borrow some of his popularity at a moment when the French leader badly needs it. With just seven months remaining in office, Macron’s approval numbers are hovering near historic lows, weighed down by public frustration over living costs, mounting national debt, and crumbling public services.

Despite the political backdrop, the mood during Leo’s welcome felt warm. Macron, visibly pleased as the pope addressed the crowd in French, thanked him for committing real time to the visit, calling the gesture genuinely touching.

Big Questions on Life, Death, and AI

Where Francis often gravitated toward small, out-of-the-way Catholic communities, Leo has taken a different approach, actively working to revive awareness of Europe’s Christian heritage. His message in France carried particular weight given the country’s recent legislative shifts: the constitutional right to abortion, enshrined in 2024, and a newly passed law permitting terminally ill adults to access lethal medication.

France’s Catholic leadership has firmly opposed both measures, standing by church teaching that life deserves protection from conception through natural death. In his remarks to Macron’s government and the diplomatic corps, Leo pointed to France’s Christian foundations and insisted that the right to life underpins every other human right people claim to hold dear.

That same concern over human dignity extended into a subject Leo has prioritized since the very start of his papacy: artificial intelligence. He described a troubling contradiction, one where machines get credited with intelligence while actual human beings are increasingly evaluated purely on productivity, and discarded once they’re seen as no longer useful.

Leo dedicated his first encyclical, titled Magnificent Humanity, entirely to this issue, pushing for serious regulatory oversight and urging tech developers to prioritize the common good over profit margins. He also called on both AI companies and the politicians tasked with regulating them to slow down, a request that appears to have found some traction among leading firms in the sector.

According to Leo, avoiding a future where a so-called paradise of machines quietly takes over daily life will require renewed investment in ethical education, so people retain the ability to recognize and choose moral good. Speaking to reporters earlier, he expressed satisfaction that his warnings were being heard, adding that he hopes the Vatican’s ongoing dialogue with technology companies continues. He noted that many industry leaders genuinely seem open to ensuring AI serves humanity rather than threatens it.

Leo also touched on global conflict, reaffirming the Vatican’s long-standing rejection of nuclear weapons. He described the doctrine of nuclear deterrence as fundamentally flawed, arguing it only accelerates arms races rather than preventing them. Peace, he said, isn’t something achieved through a balance of power, but built gradually through honest dialogue and justice.

Notre Dame Welcomes a Pope for the First Time Since the Fire

Later that Friday evening, Leo led prayers inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, marking the first time a pope has celebrated Mass there since the devastating 2019 fire that destroyed its roof and toppled the iconic spire. A crowd of nuns greeted him enthusiastically outside before he walked down the cathedral’s central aisle as the organ thundered overhead and applause rippled through the pews.

As bells rang out, Leo knelt in silent prayer at the very spot where charred roof beams had once collapsed. He praised the stained-glass windows and newly restored columns, commending the skilled artisans behind the cathedral’s revival, and encouraged the clergy present to draw inspiration from the collective effort that brought the Gothic landmark back to life.

Notably, this marks a visit Francis never made. He had declined a full state visit throughout his papacy and specifically turned down Macron’s invitation to attend Notre Dame’s grand reopening in 2024, an event that drew dozens of world leaders. Francis did make brief stops in France during his tenure, including Strasbourg in 2014 and a short trip to Marseille and Corsica in 2024, which turned out to be his final journey abroad.

A Visit With Real Public Resonance

Even though the Catholic Church holds less sway over public policy in France, largely due to the country’s strict constitutional secularism, Leo’s arrival still drew massive crowds. Thousands lined his motorcade route waving French and Vatican flags, some enduring unusually hot weather just to catch a glimpse of him.

For attendees like Sister Antonia Faye from Senegal, who experienced her first papal event during the Notre Dame prayer service, the moment felt deeply personal. She described feeling comforted in her faith, noting that praying alongside the pope carries a different kind of meaning than praying alone, something closer to receiving an actual blessing.

As Leo continues his four-day journey through France, the first official papal state visit to the country in eighteen years, his message seems clear: technology, politics, and progress all still owe something to the basic dignity of human life.