The Bishop of Metz, Philippe Ballot, together with the French Bishops’ Conference, announced on Tuesday that the pontiff will celebrate Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral on Monday 28 September.
The stop in Moselle forms part of a packed itinerary: Pope Leo XIV will arrive in France on Friday 25 September to preside over Vespers at Notre-Dame in Paris. The following day, he will celebrate a large open-air Mass in the French capital before travelling to Lourdes, where he is due to officiate in front of the grotto. He will then head to Metz for the final stage of his trip before returning to Rome.
For Bishop Ballot, the visit carries strong symbolic significance. “What was only a possibility has become reality, and it is an immense joy”, he said, according to regional newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain.
The bishop noted that Moselle, a region long marked by conflict, also has a legacy of reconciliation, embodied in part by Robert Schuman. “Our region shows that hatred can be overcome and that yesterday’s adversaries can become brothers. This message echoes the Holy Father’s call for a peace that is both ‘unarmed and disarming’ in a fractured world.”
The visit will make Metz one of the highlights of the papal trip, a rare event expected to attract worshippers from well beyond the region’s borders.
