Apostolic Journey to France

Christianity arrived in Gaul in the 1st century AD — tradition holds that Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, and Martha landed in Provence — and France became the dominant force in medieval Christendom: the Carolingian dynasty, the crusades, the great Gothic cathedrals, and the University of Paris all shaped Catholic civilisation. Today France has roughly 40 million baptised Catholics — around 60% of the population — though weekly Mass attendance has fallen to approximately 5%, one of the lowest rates in historically Catholic Europe. Yet the Church's presence endures: France is home to more priests, religious, and missionaries than any other Western European country, and Lourdes remains the world's second-largest pilgrimage destination. The tension between France's Catholic heritage and its secular republican tradition — laïcité codified in the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State — gives the papal visit a particular charge. Notre-Dame Cathedral, restored from the 2019 fire and reopened in December 2024, has become an unexpected symbol of national and religious solidarity that transcends the secular-religious divide.