DOMINANT ANGLE
Rome interprets the visit of Léon XIV to France as a reprimand on morals more than as a diplomatic meeting, particularly retaining the end of life, secularism, and the Catholic resurgence of the country.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
On end-of-life issues, the pope judged that one cannot offer "a programmed death" and called to "learn to welcome life without conditions" (Ansa).
- 02
Adnkronos reports a Catholic resurgence in France: over 20,000 baptisms in 2025 compared to 15,000 the previous year, and specifies that Macron will not attend any mass during the stay.
- 03
At UNESCO, the pope compared current globalization to the Tower of Babel, denouncing "greedy financial colonialism"; writer Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt links this speech to the pope's encyclical on artificial intelligence (Repubblica).
ANALYSIS
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."
At UNESCO, Repubblica retains another image: that of the Tower of Babel, taken from the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, to denounce "greedy financial colonialism" and a science "reduced to a technique of power." Writer Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, interviewed by Repubblica, sees a resonance with the encyclical on artificial intelligence, described as "a form of human resistance," comparable, in his view, to Joan of Arc or the Resistance.
A jab is also aimed at Washington: when asked by CNN about the exclusion of journalists from the White House, the pope responded that he was "glad you are all here," pleading for "good media coverage everywhere and for all."
Adnkronos recalls the itinerary — Paris, Lourdes, Metz — and a context of renewed Catholicism in France: more than 20,000 baptisms in 2025, compared to 15,000 the previous year. A detail noted by all: Macron will not attend any of the masses during the visit.
SOURCES (3)
- AdnkronosMEDIUM
