Pope Leo XIV on Saturday celebrated an open-air mass in front of hundreds of thousands of faithful in Paris after riding in the popemobile along the iconic Champs Elysees to the cheers of vast crowds clutching French and Vatican flags.

The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics is on a four-day trip to France, a secular country with deep Catholic roots, with his trip stirring enthusiasm and spiritual fervour among the faithful.

In the highlight of the visit's second day, the 71-year-old pope led believers in a mass at Place de la Concorde, where a giant white canopy had been erected to serve as a makeshift altar. Dozens of screens have been installed to allow worshippers to follow the service.

Some 700,000 people were in attendance, the Vatican said. The city centre was sealed off for the service, with helicopters circling overhead and snipers positioned on rooftops.

Parents arrived with pushchairs and children perched on their shoulders as crowds hoped to catch a glimpse of the pontiff on the first official papal visit to France in nearly two decades.

"We're incredibly lucky," Suzanne Grange, 62, said ahead of the mass.

"We were already lucky enough to see Pope John Paul II in Paris back in 1980," her husband Pascal, 65, added.

The first US pontiff was visiting France seven months before voters choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with the anti-immigration far right eyeing its best opportunity yet to capture the presidency.

A number of politicians were present, including far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella and former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Macron was not expected to attend the mass and was represented by his wife Brigitte. (AFP)





Edited by Azam Khan