By Joshua McElwee and Elizabeth Pineau
VATICAN CITY, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pope Leo heads to France on Friday for the first formal visit by a pope in nearly 20 years, which Catholic leaders hope will repair the Church's standing after a crushing 2021 report on child abuse by priests sparked nationwide shock.
Leo, who will meet abuse survivors during the four-day trip, is also expected to draw large crowds for an outdoor Mass in central Paris and will address French, UN and European leaders in separate
events on his whirlwind, three-city tour.
"Pope Leo's visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave" of interest, retired French Bishop Marc Stenger told Reuters. Some 600,000 people have registered to join the outdoor Mass on Saturday, near Paris' famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
"French Catholics are ... saying loudly that they need the Church to find their way in these uncertain moments in world history," said Stenger, citing the registration numbers.
POPE LIKELY TO DISCUSS AI
Leo's agenda in Paris includes speeches to President Emmanuel Macron and other French leaders at the Élysée Palace and to staff at the headquarters of the United Nations culture and education body, UNESCO, which is facing budget shortfalls after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agency in 2025.
The first US pope attracted Trump's ire earlier this year after criticizing the Iran war.
Leo, who issued a fervent manifesto in May warning about the dangers of AI and urging international regulation of the industry, is expected to address the issue at UNESCO.
The pope was likely to reiterate his call for an AI slowdown and speak "with regard to the meaning of existence, to what makes human beings human and what does not," said Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesperson.
Leo will also lead a prayer service in Paris at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral, in the first visit by a pope since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the Gothic masterpiece in 2019.
Beyond Paris, the pope's tour includes a stop at the famous Catholic shrine at Lourdes, in southwestern France. It will culminate in Metz, a town near the German border that was home to the late Robert Schuman, one of the founders of the European Union, for a speech on "the roots of Europe for peace and unity".
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, a Luxembourg archbishop and a former leader of the Church's commission for EU bishops, said that Leo would call on European leaders to be "tireless makers and builders of peace".
Macron has invited leaders from all 27 EU member states to attend the Metz speech, said Charles Personnaz, France's Vatican ambassador. It was unclear how many would come, he said, given that it coincides with the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy may also attend, according to media reports. Zelenskiy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CHURCH 'DEEPLY WOUNDED' BY ABUSE SCANDALS
Leo would meet seven survivors of abuse by Catholic clergy on Sunday in Lourdes, several of those involved said in a press release. The Vatican, which usually only issues statements about the pope's meetings with abuse victims afterwards, has not provided further details.
A 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.
Echoing similar reports in the United States, Spain and Portugal, it said the Church had shown "deep, total and even cruel indifference" to victims.
French bishops have since introduced compensation and safeguarding measures, but survivors have continued to press Church leaders to demonstrate accountability.
Stenger, who led the Diocese of Troyes from 1999 to 2020, said the abuse scandals "have deeply wounded the Church and damaged its credibility".
LOURDES CONNECTED WITH ACCUSED PRIEST
A senior Vatican official said Leo asked for the meeting in Lourdes to be organised as a dialogue and to include survivors from diverse backgrounds, including those abused as adults, and from different areas of France.
Lourdes, one of the world's most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites, is connected to a scandal that has dogged the Vatican in recent years. Its sanctuary has a series of mosaics made by Rev. Marko Rupnik, a prominent priest and artist with Vatican ties, who has been accused of sexual abuse.
Rupnik, accused by more than 20 women, is not known to have commented publicly on the accusations. He is currently undergoing a canonical trial at the Vatican.
Lourdes Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said in August that he had ordered the mosaics covered for the pope's visit.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee and Elizabeth Pineau; additional reporting by Dan Flynn; editing by Alex Richardson)
