Pope Rejects Violence in the Name of Religion, Calls for Europe to Restore Its Unity
Pope Leo XIV rejected on Monday any violence committed in the name of religion, in his first speech in Metz, the third and final stop of his visit to France, during a day expected to be dominated by its European dimension with the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Pontiff said during an interfaith meeting that “evoking the name of God to legitimize violence or oppression is a desecration of that name.”
Macron called on Europe on Monday to recover the “courage of its founding fathers” and not to succumb to “retreat” and a “return to nationalist tendencies,” during a meeting attended by Pope Leo XIV on European construction and peace in Metz.
Speaking on the last day of the Pope’s visit to France, Macron said, “Here beats the heart of Europe for a thousand years, a Europe that protects, unites, and moves forward. A Europe of sovereignty and democracy, carried by this project of peace and prosperity. A Europe that must recover the courage of its founders (...) the courage not to succumb to retreat, hatred of the other, and the return of nationalist tendencies that divide.”
Before the meeting, Sidi Omar Ben Aicha, deputy head of the Great Mosque in Metz, said the Pope’s reception was an “honor.” He told AFP, “Here are people of all religions, and all sects united, which goes against the prevailing atmosphere in France with extreme political parties.”
The head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion followers, is concluding his four-day visit with a stop in Metz, a city in northeastern France that changed hands repeatedly between France and Germany in previous conflicts.
The French President will attend the Mass presided over by Pope Leo XIV on Monday in Metz and will participate in the ceremonies marking the Pontiff’s departure from France, the Élysée Palace announced.
The Élysée clarified that “the President of the Republic will participate in the ceremonies marking the departure of Pope Leo XIV from French territory,” adding that he “reorganized his schedule to also attend the Mass preceding the ceremonies at Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Metz.”
The Pope’s message comes seven months ahead of presidential elections in France, where far-right forces skeptical of the European Union’s institutions and opposed to immigration are seeking to gain power.
The Pope views Europe as a counterweight to major global powers and has previously urged the European Union to overcome tensions and restore unity in pursuit of peace in Ukraine and beyond.
In Metz, a city of about 120,000 inhabitants, the Pope’s visit has sparked enthusiasm, with hotels fully booked and restaurant reservations surging.
In this border region marked by wars, where Robert Schuman (1886–1963), one of the founding fathers of Europe, is buried, and who was known for his piety and is undergoing the beatification process by the Catholic Church, the American-born Pope is expected to call on Europe to recover the foundations upon which it was built to establish peace on the continent at the end of his first visit to France.
The Pope will travel in his open-top vehicle (Pope Mobile) through the streets of Metz, where he will preside over Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral, a jewel of Gothic architecture.
Florence Prior, a 45-year-old Catholic, said at the entrance of the Robert Schuman Conference Center, “This is his fourth day in France, and we see that something has changed in the atmosphere. We are often told that we complain too much, but now we see more goodwill and joy.”
This first official papal visit to France in nearly two decades has sparked enthusiasm and warmth among believers in this secular country with deep Catholic roots.
More than 1.3 million people gathered to greet the Pope in Paris and Lourdes between Friday and Sunday, according to the Vatican.
During a key moment of his visit, the Pope drove along the Champs-Élysées on Saturday and presided over a Mass attended by around 800,000 people, turning central Paris, which was under tight security measures, into an open space for worship.
Catherine Ernst, a volunteer from Strasbourg, said that Leo “appears increasingly approachable, which is very rare for a pope.”
Beyond meeting with believers, the Pope used his visit to reaffirm the key priorities of his pontificate, calling for peace and coexistence and warning against the loss of human essence amid a “paradise of machines” as artificial intelligence advances.
On Friday, at the Élysée Palace, he urged France to remain a leader in promoting peace. He also said during a meeting with migrants on Saturday that it is possible to “live together with dignity and peace.”
In Lourdes, a pilgrimage site in southwestern France, the Pope met on Sunday with a number of victims of sexual abuse committed by clergy members, urging French bishops to combat this “plague.”
He also stressed that medically assisted death is not “natural,” following the French Parliament’s approval of the procedure this year for certain patients.
