PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron has invited European heads of state to attend Pope Leo XIV’s address on the last day of his visit to France later this month, three European diplomats told POLITICO. The pontiff will deliver a speech titled “The roots of Europe, for peace and unity,” in the French northeastern city of Metz, on Sept. 28. The event will be an “opportunity to celebrate the memory of Robert Schuman, father of Europe and declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2021,” the official invitation, seen by POLITICO, reads.
Metz is the hometown of former French Prime Minister Robert Schuman, a founding father of the European Union and a practicing Catholic. The location “isn’t a usual [stop] of a papal visit,” said Archbishop Philippe Ballot of Metz in an interview with French weekly Le Point. On the last day of his trip, he opens up to Europe and the world,” he added.
Le Point first reported the invitations. The pope will be in France for a four-day official visit from Sept. 25 to 28 and is to meet Macron at the Elysée Palace, visit Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Unesco headquarters, where he’s expected to talk about artificial intelligence. In his first major encyclical — an official letter the Pope writes to Catholic bishops — released in May, the pontiff has urged stronger AI regulation and warned against the spread of misinformation and the growing lack of human control.
Pope Leo XIV’s trip will be the first official papal visit to France since Benedict XVI went to Paris and Lourdes in 2008.
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