PARIS — Pope Leo XIV prayed evening prayer at Notre-Dame Cathedral on Friday, becoming the first pope to set foot in the monumental church since it was rebuilt after the 2019 fire that ravaged its roof, nave, and spire.
Less than two years after its reopening, Leo reflected on the iconic cathedral, which, “more than any other [place], has invited the people of Paris for centuries to lift their eyes towards heaven.”
“Seven years have passed since the whole world, holding its breath, watched as the cathedral was engulfed in a terrible fire,” he said in his homily. “That pain was felt not only by Catholics, nor only by believers.”
“In that tragic moment we came to realize that Notre-Dame is more than a monument,” the pope said. “The collective effort to rebuild it, and the splendor of the result reveal that the heart of a people beats here, and that here we stand at the living center of a civilization, where past and future embrace, where heaven and earth meet.”
The prayer service at the famous Gothic cathedral was Pope Leo’s first meeting with the Catholic Church of Paris during his Sept. 25–28 visit to France.
Here Leo spoke to the country’s Catholic clergy and religious — the rebuilt church providing a fitting setting for his message that “this cathedral has been reborn so that you too may be reborn with it in a new impetus towards holiness and daily mission.”
Leo addresses France’s Catholics at a critical juncture in their history, as they welcome rising numbers of converts. This Easter, France recorded more than 20,000 adult and adolescent baptisms, a 20% increase from the already record-high number in 2025, which saw a 45% increase from 2024 figures.
Despite the encouraging trend, the country continues to grow more secular. The latest data on religious identity in France, in 2019-2020, found that 51% of adults in France say they have no religious affiliation, an 8% increase from a decade before. While 29% of the population identifies as Catholic, the survey found only 8% say they go to Church regularly, according to the Institut National D’Etudes Démographiques.
Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened in December 2024, a little over five years after people around the world watched the church’s blaze in horror. Restoration work of the Gothic cathedral continued into 2026.
In his homily, Pope Leo reflected on the symbolism of the architecture of the cathedral, the seat of the archbishop of Paris.
“The cathedral’s cruciform layout, where stone and light come together, evokes the meeting of earth and heaven. It gathers and orders the events of history, woven with human joys and sufferings. It holds them together in a symbolic dynamic that transforms these diverse expressions into a living language, uniting them into a whole,” he said.
Before evening prayer, Pope Leo approached the cathedral on foot to greet those gathered outside.
Mariana González, 31, was one of hundreds of people who caught a glimpse of Pope Leo as he arrived for evening prayer.
González, who with her husband and 7-month-old daughter waited about four hours to see the pope, told EWTN News that “it’s very special for [Pope Leo] to be here, not only to see him but to listen to the message he has for all the French people, those of us living in France and the whole world.” González, who is Colombian-American and lives in Paris, said she believed “his visit will also touch many hearts here and I look forward to seeing all of the fruits his visit will bring.”
Local authorities estimated that 300,000 people lined up to greet Leo outside Notre-Dame and along the two-and-a-half mile road from his previous event at UNESCO headquarters to the cathedral, the Vatican said.
Upon entering the cathedral, the pope visited a chapel to pray before the Blessed Sacrament and then venerated a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The cathedral, which just moments before had erupted into applause and cries of “Pape Léon,” was silent.
After putting on vestments for the prayer, Leo approached the altar to the dramatic tones of the cathedral’s grand organ, the largest pipe organ in France.
“We must not forget that this cathedral, like every other church, was built for the purpose of prayer and the worship of God,” the pope recalled in his homily. “This cathedral is not merely a stone structure to be admired; instead, it lives by the sacred mystery celebrated within it. Without the liturgy, it would lose its soul.”
He encouraged priests and consecrated men and women to never neglect their friendship with Christ, to nurture their interior lives and spend time in personal, silent prayer.
“Your mission flows above all from this intimate relationship with the Lord, who awaits you there,” he said.
Reflecting on the cathedral’s purpose of prayer and the worship of God, Leo said: “Today, more than ever, we live in an age that seems deprived of fullness, depth, and promise. The noble simplicity of song, spoken word, and liturgical gesture can be for many a glimmer of hope, an oasis of peace in a hyper-connected and noisy society, where we can experience the presence of the Author of the greatest love.”
In his message of welcome to Leo, Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich said: “Just over a year ago, when I took the liberty of inviting you to Paris, you told me that you wanted to see Notre-Dame! … You have come as a pilgrim among all these visitors.”
