Pope Leo’s visit to France shows how the church and country are changing

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(RNS) —  Like Julius Caesar, Pope Leo XIV could say about his return from France, “veni, vidi, vici,” “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Unlike Caesar, who conquered Gaul with the sword, Leo swept the country with a message of compassion and love. He put forth the message of Jesus in a way that was welcomed even in secular France.

The response to the pope and his message during his four-day visit (Sept. 25-28) was extraordinary. He was welcomed like a rockstar by young people , as a respected world leader by European officials and as a pastor by hundreds of thousands of French citizens.

The Stade de France was packed on Friday (Sept. 25) with 80,000 screaming young people who sang, prayed and listened to the pope. He outdid Celine Dion, who drew 35,000 to her concert in Paris at the same time.

From their excitement, it appeared as though the kids were not forced to attend by their parents and priests — they wanted to be there to celebrate with the pope and each other. The program focused on the long history of saints in France, as Leo called on the young people to be saints in their time. To…