Pope Leo welcomes French converts and wades into liturgy debate

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PARIS, France (RNS) – Pope Leo XIV was visibly moved as he watched the crowd of nearly 80,000 people, especially young people, join in celebration of the Catholic faith at France’s largest stadium, the Stade de France, outside Paris on Friday (Sept. 25).

The youth prayer vigil was the culmination of his first, whirlwind day in Paris, where he addressed a new wave of Catholic converts, including many young people, with a message of inclusion and hope. But he also took the opportunity to promote a spirit of unity and dialogue among France’s traditionalist Catholics, many of them attached to the old Latin liturgy.

“Whoever lives with God is free from everything that darkens life, rendering it empty and meaningless,” he told the cheering crowd.

Leo invited young people to shun a lifestyle that “drives us to have everything, but to become no one; to receive countless ‘likes,’ but to reman alone with ourselves.” He encouraged them toward “the path to holiness,” modeled by the many saints born from France.

The pope was presented with a spectacle of music and costumes, as actors impersonated…