(ANS – Paris – September 28, 2026) – Pope Leo XIV is in France—Paris, Lourdes, and then Metz—for an official visit from September 25 to 28, 2026. His visit has sparked great enthusiasm: around 600,000 people attended the Mass at the Place de la Concorde in the French capital, and 200,000 gathered in Lourdes on Sunday. Naturally, Don Bosco’s Salesian Family was also fully engaged. Here are some highlights.
A fine “international” delegation of Salesian Sisters and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians at Vespers on Friday
There were numerous highlights during the two days in Paris. Before the large vigil with young people at the Stade de France, the Pope went to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris to pray Vespers together with priests, permanent deacons and their wives, as well as sisters and religious men and women from the capital.
Many were seated in the churchyard in the sunshine, including the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the Salesians of Don Bosco, with two delegations that well represented the cultural diversity of the Salesian presence in the country.
Among the sisters were one from Colombia, two from Belgium, one from France, and one from Vietnam—Sister Marthe, Sister Sandrine, Sister Anne-Marie, Sister Céline, and Sister Anna—while the Sons of Don Bosco were represented by around 10 members from France, Belgium, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Poland, and Vietnam.
Salesians and FMA marched at the Stade de France
The emotional and packed vigil with young people at the Stade de France on Friday evening was also attended by 130 young people from the Salesian Youth Movement! Three young religious—Sister Stéphanie, Sister Clémence, and the Salesian Sirak—also marched as part of the religious delegation.
Around 200 top-level athletes took part in the vigil, alongside members of “Holy Games,” the Catholic Church’s collective, easily recognizable by their “Papa Leone 14 – FC Gesù” sports shirts.
Among them were footballer Wendie Renard, former captain of the French women’s national soccer team; cyclist Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour de France; former goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau; and Paralympic shooting champion Tanguy de La Forest.
Also among them was Father Xavier Ernst, who holds dual “athlete” and “religious” status. He is Superior of the Salesians of France-Southern Belgium and a two-time French champion in the cycling competition for clergy and religious. He also served as one of the chaplains at the Olympic Village during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
On that occasion, the Salesian and sportsman also had the pleasure of greeting Benoît Saint-Denis, the French MMA champion and flag-bearer for the delegation, who bore witness to the power of the Holy Spirit before 80,000 young people.
A massive Mass at the Place de la Concorde and on the Champs-Élysées: a powerful moment for Marie-Anne
Six hundred thousand people were expected that Saturday afternoon for the grand Mass at the Place de la Concorde and on the Champs-Élysées. In the end, even more turned up—between 700,000 and 800,000. It was an extraordinary Mass that will remain etched in the memory of many of the faithful, but particularly in that of Marie-Anne, a parishioner of St. John Bosco Church in the French capital.
A convert who was baptized a year and a half ago, Marie-Anne is known above all for having given her testimony at “Campobosco” and the “Don Bosco Youth and Families Weekend.”
She was one of the nine people entrusted with the offertory procession, and she carried the large host to the Holy Father.
It is worth noting that, on the same occasion, near the Arc de Triomphe, Mr. Sébastien Robert, Provincial Treasurer of the Salesians of FBR, and Sister Céline Baumet, the new editor-in-chief of DBA, distributed Holy Communion.
Furthermore, the 130 young people who had attended the youth vigil at the Stade de France the previous evening also took part in the Mass in the city center the following day.
Sister Bénédicte Pitti a guest at “Catho” in Paris, Fr. Albert Kabuge at UNESCO
Pope Leo XIV delivered many important speeches over the course of these two days. On Saturday morning, he addressed baptized young people, catechumens, and those accompanying them.
Just over a year ago, faced with a sharp rise in the number of requests for baptism from teenagers and adults, the bishops of the Île-de-France region decided to establish an ecclesial assembly bringing together some of these young people, as well as their mentors.
As this sharp rise in conversions among young adults is one of the reasons for the Pope’s visit to France, a meeting was organized at the Catholic University—the “Catho”—in Paris.
Sister Bénédicte Pitti, a Salesian who is part of the group supporting catechumens at the parish of St. John Bosco in Paris, was also present.
“The Pope wished to meet the more than 360 delegates of the provincial ecclesial assembly and the observers; and I am one of the 16 men and women religious sitting there, representing Sister Marie-Agnès, our Superior,” she explains.
On Friday afternoon, however, the Pope had been invited to speak at UNESCO, a place of encounter between cultures and dialogue. Among those present was the Salesian Fr. Albert Kabuge.
The Pope came to this global organization to speak about peace. “Pope Leo XIV called for peace to be built with others, in a spirit of trust, through education,” commented Fr. Kabuge.
The Salesian represents the congregation within the International Catholic Centre for Cooperation with UNESCO and, together with Don Bosco International, carries out a mission there in the field of defending young people’s rights.
“Our presence in this great international organization,” concludes the Salesian, “drawing on our Don Bosco charism, invites us to collaborate in the education of young people throughout the world to build a world of peace.”
Source: Don Bosco Aujourd’hui