Lisbon, September 26, 2026. The Portuguese press closely followed the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Paris on Friday for his first visit to France in eighteen years from the Holy See's side. The news site SAPO Notícias reports on the warm welcome given by Emmanuel Macron to the pontiff, who landed at Orly Airport before heading to the Élysée Palace for a four-day official visit. According to SAPO, in his first speech, the pope addressed "the issue of secularism" and praised the "Christian roots" of France, emphasizing the importance of religion in the public sphere, before also discussing artificial intelligence and peace.

The Jornal Económico takes a more unexpected angle: it reports on the pope's comments on press freedom, made to the journalists accompanying him to France. Leo XIV assured that "good coverage [journalistic] is very important" and that the media will "always have a place" on his plane — a statement that the title explicitly links to the Trump administration's decision to ban access to the White House to CNN, MSNOW (formerly MSNBC), and Politico, which have since taken legal action for infringement on freedom of expression. The newspaper also notes that the pontiff landed "this morning" at Orly for his visit to France and UNESCO, before heading to the Lourdes sanctuary and Metz.

The RTP, for its part, mainly retains the scope of the mobilization of young people: some 80,000 of them registered for the vigil at the Stade de France, saturating the stadium's capacity in just 25 minutes. The public media outlet qualifies this first highlight of the apostolic visit as a milestone in the pope's stay in France.

Through these three readings, the Lisbon press insists less on the pope's warning against a "paradise of machines" — mentioned indirectly, via AI and digital — than on the religious and social dimension of the visit: secularism, Christian roots, and the fervor of young people. The Trump-media sequence, grafted by the Jornal Económico onto the pope's visit, also illustrates how the Portuguese coverage links the Parisian event to broader international issues, at the risk of diluting the message specifically addressed to French society on end-of-life issues and secularism.

Buenos Aires, September 26, 2026. The Argentine press is following Leon XIV's visit to Paris with an eye on its own agenda: the pontiff is set to arrive in Buenos Aires on November 8, where he will be greeted by Javier Milei at Jorge Newbery Airport, for a four-day tour that will take him to the capital, Córdoba, and Luján. The media is particularly focused on the warning about the "paradise of machines" from last Friday in Paris: after being received at the Élysée by Emmanuel Macron, Leon XIV cautioned against the risk of "losing our humanity amidst the paradise of machines that invade and condition our daily lives," according to Perfil. The newspaper recalls that the pope had already addressed the issue in May in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and that he called for "training minds to an ethical discernment capable of distinguishing what is morally good." Macron, for his part, advocated for an "international organization" that would prevent the most advanced AI models from ending up "in the hands of a few," stating that "artificial intelligence must be a servant and not a master," as reported by AFP and cited by Perfil.

Ámbito details the other "excesses" denounced by the pope before the French authorities: genetic manipulation, surrogacy, organ trafficking, and "offers of programmed death," which are attributed to science and technology not guided by conscience. The newspaper emphasizes that these statements resonate in France, the first country to have enshrined abortion in its Constitution in March 2023 and which legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in certain cases in July.

Brussels, 26 September 2026. The Belgian press is following the first visit of a pope to France since Benedict XVI in 2008 as a revelation of the kingdom's own religious trajectory, more than as a simple protocol meeting. Arriving on Friday at Orly airport, welcomed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, Leo XIV spoke at the Élysée to warn against the advent of a "paradise of machines", before calling on artificial intelligence developers and political leaders to slow down the pace, according to VRT NWS. The Flemish media outlet emphasizes that the pope refused the Republican Guard upon his arrival, choosing to set himself "the rhythm, the accents, and the symbolism" of his stay, without letting the French president dictate the course of events.

However, it is the societal issues that are holding the most attention in Brussels. At Notre-Dame, Leo XIV called on France to "welcome life without condition [...] and accompany with respect [...] every stage of existence", in the midst of the application of the French law on the end of life, reports La Libre Belgique. He also mentioned "open secularism", which does not exclude the public expression of religions - a notion familiar to a country that has itself experienced its own debates on state neutrality. VRT NWS recalls that in France, the proportion of declared Catholics has fallen from around 70% at the beginning of the 1980s to around thirty percent today, a secularization comparable to that observed in Belgium.

São Paulo, September 26, 2026. The Brazilian press first notes from the first papal visit to France in nearly twenty years the warning from Léon XIV against a "paraíso de máquinas", a "paradise of machines" that threatens to cause humanity to lose control of the Earth. Arriving on Friday, September 25, at Paris-Orly airport, where he was welcomed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron as well as children who came to sing for him, the pope delivered his first official speech at the Élysée Palace, where he placed artificial intelligence at the center of his remarks. "If we want to avoid losing our humanity amidst a paradise of machines that invades and conditions our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment," he stated, according to G1.

For the Veja portal, this warning goes beyond just France: a few hours earlier, on the plane that took him from Rome to Paris, Léon XIV defended press freedom by referencing the restrictions imposed by Donald Trump on newsrooms like CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, which were barred from the White House before a federal judge ordered their return. "Good coverage (...) is very important, and we must have it everywhere, for everyone," he told the journalists accompanying him. Veja headlined that the pope "picks on" Trump.

Ottawa, September 26, 2026. For the Canadian press, the first speech of Léon XIV in France, on Friday, September 25, 2026, is first and foremost a technological warning. The Pope warned that humanity risks sinking into a "paradise of machines" if artificial intelligence is not framed by ethical reflection. Speaking before Emmanuel Macron and the diplomatic corps at the Élysée, he stated: "If we want to avoid losing our humanity within a 'paradise of machines' that invades and conditions our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment."

The Globe and Mail and CBC News link this warning to the Pope's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, entirely dedicated to artificial intelligence, in which he called for robust regulation and urged developers to work for the common good rather than for profit. CBC recalls that Léon XIV has, since the beginning of his pontificate, identified AI as one of the greatest challenges for humanity, and that he has asked developers and politicians to "slow down" in the face of growing calls for safeguards. On his way to Paris, he said he was satisfied that his message was being heard.

The trip, the first official visit of a Pope to France in eighteen years, is also seen as a test for a Church that, according to The Globe and Mail, has lost ground on ethical issues in a country where secularism is enshrined in the Constitution. Léon XIV invoked the "deep Christian roots" of France, a country from which his paternal ancestors originated, while reaffirming the Vatican's opposition to nuclear weapons, qualifying the doctrine of deterrence as an "error" that fuels a new arms race: "Peace is not a balance of powers; it is built day by day, through dialogue and justice."

Berlin, September 26, 2026. The German press followed on Friday the first visit of a pope to France in eighteen years, reading it less as a religious time than as a direct confrontation between Leon XIV and French societal choices. Received at the Élysée with military honors by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, the American pope, whose grandmother is from Normandy, hailed France as a "country of human rights" before, according to Tagesschau, "mahnen" - warning. Die Zeit quotes his words at the Élysée: "Der Schutz des Rechts auf Leben bildet die unverzichtbare Grundlage für alle anderen Menschenrechte", or the protection of the right to life as the indispensable foundation of all other human rights. The editorial offices explicitly link this appeal to a "new fraternity" to the law on active assistance in dying voted this summer by the National Assembly, and to the right to abortion enshrined in the Constitution under Emmanuel Macron. Leon XIV, Tagesschau specifies, opposes both.

The warning against a "paradise of machines" and the risks of uncontrolled artificial intelligence is reported, but in a secondary position compared to the question of respect for life. Tagesschau also notes the papal warning against the idea that a balance of nuclear forces would guarantee security, with peace born "from dialogue and justice" rather than from the arsenal - France remaining the only nuclear power in the European Union.

Paris, September 26, 2026. After eighteen years without a papal visit, the French press sees Leon XIV's stay as less of a diplomatic ritual and more of a mirror held up to society. Welcomed on Friday at Orly Airport by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, the Pope spoke at the Élysée just after the President, before cardinals and political leaders, to warn against the advent of a "paradise of machines" and affirm that "just secularism does not consist of excluding religion from the public sphere", according to Le Monde. He praised the collaboration between the State and the Church, echoing Emmanuel Macron who defended a "French secularism" that is "in no way a negation of" faith. RFI reports that he was "offensive" on GPA and end-of-life issues, two social debates that are stirring the country; the HuffPost notes, however, that he almost never pronounces the words "euthanasia" or "abortion" himself in his speeches. Before UNESCO, he repeated his call to regulate artificial intelligence: BFMTV details his project for an "international tribunal" of AI and quotes his phrase, "disarming does not mean renouncing technology". In the evening, 80,000 young people gathered at the Stade de France heard him call to live the "combat of faith" without resorting to "the arms of violence, contempt or oppression", while 300,000 people acclaimed him in the popemobile in Paris, according to the Vatican. France 24 highlights the hope of militants from the Anuncio movement: "May his message awaken France". RFI notes a religious resurgence embodied by a Catholic youth in search of "meaning and community", with more than 21,000 baptisms at Easter 2026, triple the number ten years ago according to the Conference of Bishops of France. On the political level, 20 Minutes notes the expected presence on Saturday at the Concorde mass of Marine Le Pen, Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe, presidential candidates, but the absence of Emmanuel Macron. The cost of the visit, budgeted at 27 million euros by the Church, remains, according to RFI, underfinanced by 18 million for the Parisian stage alone, an event tourism that has boosted bookings to Lourdes by 171%.

Rome, September 26, 2026. The Italian press is reporting hour by hour on the fifth apostolic voyage of Léon XIV, the first American pope, who arrived in Paris on Friday for a four-day visit to France, until September 28. At Orly Airport, Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron welcomed him at the foot of the plane; a long handshake opened a brief exchange, with the president gesturing towards the center of Paris before departing for the Élysée, according to Ansa.

For the Italian media, the pontiff's message to France is first and foremost a rebuke on morals. On end-of-life issues, Léon XIV repeated that "a programmed death" cannot be a response, calling to "welcome life without conditions, support fragility with tenderness" and recalling that "the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of all other human rights." On secularism, he judged that "an authentically free society does not impose uniformity, but protects the diversity of consciences, preventing authoritarian drifts" — a dialogue deemed "all the more urgent in today's France." Ansa sums it up in one sentence: "Rearmament, end of life, secularism. Pope Leone XIV has arrived today in a France that, on many subjects, marks its distance from the Holy See."

Abuja, September 26, 2026. The Nigerian press has widely reported on the warning issued by Pope Léon XIV against a "paradise of machines," delivered on Friday at the Élysée the day after his arrival in France for his first visit to the country in eighteen years. According to Vanguard, the American pontiff, welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival at Orly, warned that "if we want to avoid losing our humanity amidst a paradise of machines that invades and conditions our daily life, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment."

Punch Nigeria highlights that this message, relayed by the BBC, marks the beginning of a four-day visit characterized by an exceptional mobilization: over half a million faithful are expected to gather at the Place de la Concorde on Saturday for the grand mass, an altar having been set up under high security around the Champs-Élysées.

For the Nigerian press, France remains a case study on the role of religion in the public sphere. Vanguard recalls that the Pope, in a secular country since 1901, advocates for "authentic secularism" that does not consist of excluding religion from the public sphere or education, but rather of facilitating dialogue between the state and religious institutions for the common good. The article notes that French politicians have invoked this secularism to justify the ban on religious symbols, including Muslim women's attire, in public spaces and schools — a debate that resonates particularly in Nigeria, which faces its own tensions between Christian and Muslim communities over the wearing of the hijab in schools.

Lima, September 26, 2026. For the Peruvian press, the first visit of a pope to France in eighteen years is first read through a personal thread: Léon XIV, who was a bishop in Chiclayo, in northern Peru, before his election in 2025. The Andina agency, relaying an AFP dispatch, reports that upon his arrival at Orly Airport, where he was welcomed by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, the pontiff criticized gestation for others and euthanasia, which he described as a "programmed death offer", as "drifts" of science that would no longer be guided by conscience. At the Élysée Palace, he called for "training minds in ethical discernment capable of distinguishing what is morally good", so that technological progress remains at the service of human dignity, a formula that the local press retains as a warning against a "paradise of machines".

But the bulk of Peruvian coverage is already turning to November. Andina details the preparations of the archdiocese of Cuzco for the pope's visit on November 15 to the esplanade of Sacsayhuamán, where an initial capacity of 50,000 people, according to site manager Francisco Solís, could be expanded; a meeting also took place with Culture Minister Alberto Beingolea to finalize the details. Tickets with QR codes are being prepared, says Father Julio Velasco Paz: "There is already a confirmed day, a confirmed schedule by the Holy See, it remains to prepare each of these moments." In Callao, the residents of the Hermanitas de los Ancianos Desamparados hospice are waiting for his visit on November 16: "I would like to ask him for the union of my family, because it is distant," Teresa tells Andina, while Rosa hopes "to give him a kiss on the hand". RPP Noticias reports in Lima the unveiling of a mural fresco created by teenagers in homage to the pope.

Bucharest, Saturday, September 26, 2026. On Friday, in Paris, Léon XIV began the first visit of a pope to France in eighteen years, a four-day trip that the Romanian press is reconstructing hour by hour: a Parisian stage, then Lourdes on Saturday evening, and Metz on Monday. Digi24 notes that the pontiff has become the first pope to enter Notre-Dame since its reopening in December 2024, after the 2019 fire — a stage that his predecessor François had refused during the inauguration. The newspaper also notes that the pope did not fail to recall his "Norman and Béarnaise family origins," a personal wink seen as a sign of closeness to the visited country; according to Mediafax, one million people were expected in the French capital for the entire stay.

At the Élysée, received by the Macron couple, Léon XIV addressed, according to Digi24, "without detour" secularism, the dangers of artificial intelligence, and end-of-life issues. He denounced "genetic manipulations," "gestation for others," "organ trafficking," and "offers of programmed death," qualified as "drifts" that risk "diverting science and technology towards lucrative businesses." Mediafax extensively quotes his reasoning: "technological development has contributed over the centuries to a significant improvement in the living conditions of humanity; at the same time, each stage of progress has also shown the ambiguous face of instruments capable of harming when they are not oriented towards the good." The pope hammered home that "the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of all other human rights," recalling that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in Paris.

Singapour, 26 September 2026. For Singapour, a city-state that has made regulating artificial intelligence a pillar of its digital policy, the first visit by a pope to France since Benedict XVI in 2008 is seen primarily through the alert issued by Léon XIV on a "paradise of machines". The Straits Times takes care to specify that the papal plane landed at Orly on Friday, 25 September at 10 am, or 4 pm in Singapour, a sign of the local attention paid to the trip. Channel News Asia begins its account with the phrase "paradise of machines", recalling that the first American pope has made the alert on the risks of AI "a central axis" of his sixteen-month papacy and that he has placed the subject at the heart of his visit to France. Before Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron at the Élysée, the pope pleaded for "urgent education in ethical discernment", in order to avoid losing humanity in the face of machines that "invade and condition" daily life.

The Straits Times also relays this priority: at UNESCO, that same afternoon, Léon XIV was to develop his call for global regulation, in an organization weakened by the American withdrawal in 2025. The day before, at the Vatican, the pontiff had already warned that AI introduces "new dangers for international security and peace", exhorting leaders to "govern with wisdom".

The Singaporean press links this message to other firm positions: opposition to euthanasia, two months after the adoption of a French law on end-of-life care, to gestation for others and organ trafficking, presented as lucrative drifts. The Straits Times also highlights the political agenda of the four-day trip, which is to take the pope to Paris, the sanctuary of Lourdes, and then to Metz, seven months before a French election where the far right hopes to win, in a context of clerical abuse that the Church is seeking to settle. According to the newspaper, 600,000 people had signed up for the outdoor mass scheduled for Saturday in Paris, along the Champs-Élysées.

Au Tchad, le protocole d'État domine le récit de l'arrivée du pape Léon XIV en France, première visite pontificale dans l'Hexagone depuis celle de Benoît XVI en septembre 2008, il y a près de dix-huit ans. According to Tchad Infos and Le Pays Tchad, the sovereign pontiff landed on Friday at Paris-Orly airport, where he was welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron. The bells of France's churches rang out for seven minutes to greet his arrival.

From the airport, Léon XIV went directly to the Élysée Palace for a meeting with the head of state, before delivering, at around 11:45, a speech in front of French authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps. He was offered several gifts, including a partial reproduction of one of the new stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame de Paris and a "piece of synthetic DNA" on which a unique copy of the Gospel was affixed.

In the afternoon, around 3:00 pm, the pope spoke at the UNESCO headquarters, where he was to renew his call to regulate artificial intelligence, in a context of growing concern about the possible drift of algorithms. On the plane that took him to Paris, he had hailed the "spiritual thirst" perceptible in France, where baptisms are on the rise, and stated that he was traveling "as a disciple of Jesus Christ", wishing to "proclaim peace, the peace of Christ throughout the world".

In Britain, the four-day visit of Pope Léon XIV to France is first and foremost seen as an exercise in high-level diplomatic protocol, rather than a simple pilgrimage. The BBC reports that President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the pontiff on Friday at Orly Airport, before meeting with him at the Élysée to discuss geopolitical issues and artificial intelligence. However, the British press emphasizes what French protocol does not allow: in accordance with the strict separation of Church and State, Emmanuel Macron will not attend any of the pope's masses, leaving his wife Brigitte and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to represent the executive at the Place de la Concorde.

According to the BBC, tensions allegedly arose between Macron's team and the Vatican team responsible for organizing the visit, with the president reportedly wanting a more ceremonial aspect - including a horseback escort on the Champs-Élysées. The Élysée denied any disagreement, recalling that a visiting head of state, a status recognized for the pope, traditionally benefits from high-level protocol considerations.

The scale of the welcome also strikes London newsrooms: more than 600,000 Catholic faithful are expected on Saturday along the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe for the grand mass at the Place de la Concorde, a figure that, according to the BBC, translates to a "growing spiritual thirst" among the French and Europeans. French political personalities from all sides are also expected to attend, from Marine Le Pen to Édouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal, and Bruno Retailleau - a sign, for the British press, that the event goes beyond the sole religious framework to become a political meeting ahead of the presidential election.

Aux États-Unis, January 10. The opening of Pope Leo XIV's visit to France is being read less as a French event than as a message with global reach. The US government justifies the pontiff's warning that a "paradise of machines" risks "undermining humanity", posing "fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the era of artificial intelligence, nuclear arms races, and other threats to life itself". ABC News picks up on this same alert and emphasizes that it aims to make people think far beyond France's borders, at a time when AI "questions the very essence of what it means to be human". NPR and ABC News both cite the figure of "more than one million" people expected in the streets of the capital to catch a glimpse of the papal procession, a sign, according to them, of unexpected interest in this first papal visit to France in eighteen years.

Part of the coverage focuses on the biography of the traveler more than on the French political scene. Fox News and NBC News recall that this is the first papal visit to France since Benedict XVI in 2008, but also devote long passages to the fact that Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, remains the first American pope in history. Fox News also notes that in France, officially secular, more than 21,000 adults have joined the Church this year, an increase driven by 18-25 year olds, which retired bishop Marc Stenger describes to Reuters as a "true wave". NBC reports that when asked about the White Sox's surge, a childhood team qualified for the series after losing 121 games in 2024, the pope smiled and replied "no comment".

Caracas, September 26, 2026. Léon XIV landed on Friday, September 25, in Paris, where he began a four-day official visit to France, reports El Nacional. On the plane's stairs, the pope was greeted by a procession led by French President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he was to have a first meeting in the airport's honor lounge.

The Venezuelan press particularly retains from this first day the pontiff's intervention at UNESCO, where he called for technologies to "continue to serve humans" and not become "an instrument of further domination and injustice," according to Últimas Noticias. In this speech dedicated to the dignity of human life, Léon XIV mentioned the risks posed by new technologies, including artificial intelligence.

He recalled that many tasks previously performed by humans "have been entrusted to machines," and that certain artificial systems have been attributed "even the name of our human faculty of thinking: intelligence." "At the same time, our ideas and relationships risk being impoverished by a process of dehumanization," he warned.

The pope lamented that while intelligence is attributed to computer systems, humanity struggles to recognize the inalienable dignity of individuals, "whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and who are rejected when they are no longer deemed productive." He described this reality as "painful," inviting reflection on the fragility of human nature and on the "immense dignity" of each person, a dignity that, he assured, is not destroyed by illness or pain.

Pretoria, September 26, 2026. The South African press is reporting on the first papal visit to France in eighteen years through the lens of international institutions rather than French societal debates. According to SABC News, Léon XIV warned from the Paris headquarters of UNESCO that the UN and other multilateral bodies are going through an "efficacy crisis", cautioning against international dialogue becoming a mere "charade". The pope denounced, without naming names, leaders who "invoke the law when it serves their interests and ignore it when it constrains them", treating justice "like a commodity". This speech comes as the UN General Assembly, which ends on Monday in New York, has been marked by high tensions: Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to "annihilate" Iran if Tehran did not agree to end the war, and dozens of delegates walked out of the room on Thursday during Benjamin Netanyahu's speech. Léon XIV, already at odds with Washington after criticizing the war in Iran earlier this year, is speaking out as Trump withdrew the United States from UNESCO in 2025, depriving the organization of major funding. Press freedom is also a central theme in the South African coverage: on the plane to Paris, the pope assured journalists they were "welcome", responding to a question about the White House's attempt to bar CNN and other media outlets. He had already called, during his first audience in 2025, for the release of imprisoned journalists. Greeted at Orly by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron under a blue sky, Léon XIV also indicated his desire to revive calls for global rules on artificial intelligence, before heading to Lourdes and then Metz during his four-day stay. Daily Maverick notes that France remains a secular nation since the 1905 law, marked by a constant decline in Catholic affiliation, and that the pope is also seeking to restore the image of the Church after the abuse scandals that shook the country. But it is the institutional and diplomatic aspect - UNESCO, UN, press freedom - that structures the view from Pretoria on this visit, rather than the French debates on end-of-life issues or secularism, which are barely mentioned in the available coverage.