---
title: Pope Francis visits France amid hopes and problems
url: https://www.faithfulnews.com/en/pope-francis-visits-france-amid-hopes-and-problems
published: 2026-10-01T13:52:40+00:00
language: en
section: World Church
source: https://www.religiondigital.org/opinion/papa-francia-esperanzas-problemas_1_1467968.html
organizations: CIASE, Conference Episcopal, Roman Catholic Church
publisher: FaithfulNews
---

# Pope Francis visits France amid hopes and problems

The Pope’s trip to France began in Paris on Friday, then moved to Lourdes and will end today in Metz. The visit has shown that Catholicism remains alive in the country despite its declared secularism, while also raising difficult questions about how to address pastoral problems. Crowds gathered to see the Pope, and a concrete statistic surprised even the bishops: about twenty thousand adults have requested baptism in recent years. This suggests that many people still find meaning in the Christ proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church, and that the community, though wounded, deserves respect and trust. The positive figure was unexpected after an independent commission (CIASE), created by the bishops’ conference, calculated five years ago that between 1950 and 2020 three thousand priests and religious had committed 216 000 sexual abuses against children.

These numbers, questioned by some sociologists but confirmed by CIASE, have had great impact in the press and television, and have shaken bishops and the Roman Curia. They have prompted hard questions: should clerical celibacy be abolished or should root causes of violent behavior be tackled more deeply? How can the honor of the vast majority of innocent clergy be protected? The Pope met yesterday in Lourdes, behind closed doors, with the full Episcopal Conference. Details of the discussion are unknown. Yesterday the pontiff also held an audience in the Marian city with seven people who were victims of abuse by priests, but he did not accept representatives of groups demanding justice for sexual abuse. In Paris the Pope addressed President Emmanuel Macron, proposing to halt the arms race and to ban nuclear weapons.

He warned that the belief that nuclear weapons guarantee security is mistaken, and stressed that peace is built daily through dialogue and justice. He also called for life to be protected from its beginning to its end. Those words clash with the reality of France, one of nine nations that possess nuclear weapons, and with the constitutional right to abortion. Nevertheless the Pope has sown hope both in the Church and in the country. It remains to be seen whether, along the banks of the Seine and near the sanctuary and the Lourdes grotto, the roses that Pope Francis so desires will bloom in the coming months.

## This story in other languages

- [Português (Brasil)](https://www.faithfulnews.com/pt-br/papa-visita-a-franca-e-destaca-crescimento-do-batismo-entre-adultos-mesmo-apos-escandalo-de-abusos)
- [Nederlands](https://www.faithfulnews.com/nl/paus-leon-xiv-bezoekt-frankrijk-hoop-op-herleving-geloof-ondanks-misbruikschandaal)
- [Polski](https://www.faithfulnews.com/pl/papiez-w-francji-nadzieje-i-problemy)