Paris Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along Paris’ Champs-Élysées on Saturday for an outdoor Mass with Pope Leo, the centrepiece of his four-day visit to France. More than 600,000 people had registered for the event, with crowds beginning to arrive before dawn along the tree-lined avenue. Police closed nearby streets ahead of the Mass, while Leo was expected to travel through the area in an open-top popemobile. The visit is part of the Pope’s effort to strengthen the Catholic Church’s standing in France, where affiliation has declined steadily and past clergy abuse scandals have damaged public trust. During his visit, Leo has also focused on wider global issues. Speaking at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, he warned that multilateral institutions including the United Nations were facing a crisis. He also renewed his concerns about artificial intelligence, warning French leaders that unchecked development could produce a future in which “a paradise of machines” takes control of the Earth. France remains a largely secular country, with the separation of church and state established under a 1905 law. Official statistics indicate that 25% of French people aged 18 to 49 identified as Catholic, down from 43% a decade earlier. At the Catholic University of Paris on Saturday, Leo met newly baptised Catholics and urged the French Church to remain cautious despite a rise in adult baptisms. He later travelled to Lourdes, the renowned Catholic shrine. On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet seven French victims of clergy abuse. “We must recognise, welcome and protect the small flame that the Holy Spirit has kindled in the darkness of the night, the tiny seed that strives to grow even amid the thorns.” - Pope Leo. “A paradise of machines” - Pope Leo, referring to concerns over the potential direction of artificial intelligence development.