The Pope’s trip to France has not begun smoothly.

Rome. Expectations are running high for the Pope’s now imminent trip to France (25–28 September): between Paris, Lourdes and Metz, attendance is estimated at one million people, perhaps more. It has long been presented as a journey of reconciliation, after Francis made it clear that whilst he was indeed going to France, it was only for specific meetings that happened to be taking place there. In short: no official visits, let alone to the Notre-Dame reopening ceremony. The Pope preferred, during those days, to go to Ajaccio, Corsica. Leone’s arrival had led some to believe that tensions had eased. They were wrong. 

A detailed investigation by Mikael Corre in La Croix has in fact brought to light a fair amount of friction that has arisen between Paris and Rome regarding the finalisation of the official programme for the visit. Meanwhile – and this is the matter that has probably caused the most resentment at the Élysée – the Vatican’s flat refusal of Emmanuel Macron’s request to accompany the Pope to Notre-Dame for Vespers, a ten-minute visit to show him the state-funded restoration work. There was also no gala dinner, military honours were stripped down to the bare minimum, and the awarding of the Legion of Honour was omitted. As the authoritative French magazine writes, there is only one point at stake: for the Holy See, the trip across the Alps is an apostolic journey and not a state visit. Furthermore—and this is no minor detail—with the presidential elections just a few months away, there is no intention of being exploited by either side. Neither by those who would like to portray the Pope as a pro-globalisation pacifist, nor by those ready to turn Prevost into a Joan of Arc leading the charge against advocates of assisted suicide. Moreover, the debate on end-of-life issues, with the Élysée Palace’s direct involvement – though less so that of the Prime Minister, the Catholic Sébastien Lecornu – in securing approval for the bill, whose passage through Parliament has been fraught with difficulties, has not helped the French President’s standing in the Holy See. Last April, Macron was received by Pope Leo XIV, thereby refuting the false reports that had circulated months earlier claiming the Pope had refused to meet France’s highest civil authority. It was a cordial meeting; Macron placed great emphasis on the international situation – these were the weeks of Trump’s verbal attacks against the Pope. “We share the same conviction: in the face of the world’s divisions, working for peace is both a duty and a necessity,” wrote the occupant of the Élysée Palace on X. Not a word was said about “bioethical” issues. Apparently, however, they are still remembered in the Vatican.