After touring Paris in the popemobile and visiting Notre-Dame, Pope Leo XIV was welcomed in electric atmosphere on Friday, September 25 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis by some 80,000 young people for a vigil combining prayer, song and dialogue with the pontiff.
Among the tens of thousands of 17-to-35-year-olds in attendance, young people from the Seine-Saint-Denis department were given particular prominence. “On behalf of the 1,500 young people from the 93 who are here, we are very happy to welcome you,” said Étienne Guillet, the bishop of Seine-Saint-Denis, with a broad smile.
A Department ‘Young and Cosmopolitan’
Seine-Saint-Denis is “the youngest and most cosmopolitan department in France,” the bishop noted as he welcomed the pope, who arrived smiling broadly in the popemobile amid cheers and applause from the crowd after several hours of waiting to the sound of pop-praise and gospel groups.
“Thank you for your courage, thank you for your presence, thank you for your faith. You are the saints of France!” Leo XIV responded, visibly moved by the welcome from the young people, before a series of tableaux tracing the virtues of the great saints of France, the guiding thread of the ceremony.
Questions on Freedom and Fraternity
Throughout the evening, the pope shared his guidance with the 80,000 young people present, particularly through moments of exchange. “Young people of France, you carry in your hearts an immense desire for freedom, a word that resonates powerfully in your culture. But what is the source of true freedom?” he asked them, speaking in flawless French.
Leo XIV also challenged the 17-to-35-year-olds on their relationship to fraternity in a world where social media plays an increasingly dominant role. The pope invited them to appreciate “human fraternity” and to reject “a lifestyle that pushes you to have everything but be no one, to receive a quantity of ‘likes’ but remain alone with yourself.”
‘Only a Goodbye’
The evening concluded with an ovation from the crowd and a final walkabout by the pope, who shook numerous hands. “It is only a goodbye,” the 80,000 young people of the Stade de France sang in unison, as Leo XIV’s trip across France continues through Monday.
