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All churches in France will ring their bells for seven minutes straight next Friday
Pope Leo XIV is visiting the country from September 25
Church bells across France will ring out together for seven minutes at 10:00 on Friday, September 25, to mark Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in the country.
The French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) said the bells would ring “as a simple and symbolic gesture” to mark the beginning of the Pope’s apostolic journey and allow people to take part wherever they are.
Pope’s four-day visit
On Friday evening, he will attend a youth prayer vigil at the Stade de France, with 80,000 registered participants.
The following day, Saturday, September 26, he will celebrate a solemn outdoor Mass at 15:00 at the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs-Élysées.
Nearly 600,000 people had registered to attend by September 16, according to Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich.
The Diocese of Paris is therefore organising an overflow viewing area around the Place de l’Etoile and along Avenue de la Grande-Armée. The spectator area will form a single three-kilometre stretch towards Porte Maillot, with additional security.
A temporary altar is also being built at the Place de la Concorde.
The Pope will travel to Lourdes on Saturday evening. His Sunday Mass at the sanctuary on September 27 is expected to draw about 150,000 people.
He will also meet privately with seven victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
Leo XIV will then travel to Metz on Monday, September 28, where he is due to visit the Robert Schuman Congress Centre and travel through the city in the popemobile. A Mass there is expected to be attended by 40,000 people who have already registered.
He will return to Rome that evening.
Visit expected to cost €27m
The French Church estimates the visit will cost €27million and has appealed for public donations to help fund it.
The CEF said the campaign had raised “nearly €5.5million” by mid-September and that the visit was being financed “very largely through the generosity of the public”.
Funding also includes sponsorship from major donors and businesses, sales of official merchandise and, if necessary, money from the Church’s own resources used for pastoral activities.
