Pope Leo XIV called on the world to “not remain indifferent” to suffering in the Middle East and urged leaders to step up diplomacy to solve world crises as he started a four-day visit to France on Friday.
Speaking to 500 senior French officials, religious representatives and dignitaries gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Pope Leo called for a “change of attitude”.
“We cannot remain indifferent to such suffering, which wounds human dignity and cries out to God for justice,” he said. “The gravity of these situations must challenge us, calling upon everyone – wherever they may be – to undergo a genuine conversion of the heart and a change of attitude.”
Pope Leo praised French support for educational projects in the region, including seven universities in Lebanon and a university in Bethlehem. “I therefore urge you never to resign yourselves to the prospect of war by regarding it as 'inevitable', but rather to tirelessly promote dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.
Pope Leo's visit has been met with joy and excitement in France despite some sensitive topics, including parliament's approval in August of a law legalising medically assisted dying. About 600,000 people are expected to attend an open-air Mass in central Paris on Saturday.
High points of the pontiff's whirlwind tour of France will include stops at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the famed Catholic shrine at Lourdes in the south-west of the country, and Metz, on the border with Germany.
AI warnings
At the Elysee Palace, the Pope reiterated his warnings on AI, saying there was a risk of “losing our humanity in the middle of the 'paradise of machines' that invade and shape our daily lives”.
Speaking later at the headquarters of Unesco, the UN's culture and education body, he elaborated further on the topic.
“The paradox has become increasingly evident,” he said. “While 'intelligence' is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognise the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and when deemed no longer productive are rejected and discarded.”
Pope Leo praised Unesco's educational goals, which he said converged with those of the Catholic church. “Those engaged in education know that only the truth sets us free,” he said.
“Without truth, language becomes subject to the logic of violence and to the arbitrary will of the powerful. Others are then excluded in the name of profit, and the innocent are killed in the name of freedom.”
International organisations such as the UN, which have come under increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration, have found a champion in Pope Leo. The first American pope risked Mr Trump's fury earlier this year when he criticised the Iran war.
Unesco is the first international organisation Pope Leo XIV has visited outside Rome since his accession in May 2025.
“Amid the many complex and pressing issues of the present time, our world regards international institutions with mixed feelings,” he said.
“On the one hand, these institutions are expected to respond to challenges that no individual state can face alone. On the other hand, these same institutions are experiencing a crisis of effectiveness, especially in situations where dialogue is seen as an obstacle to action rather than a resource for peace.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, who welcomed Pope Leo at Paris Orly Airport in the morning, appeared to agree with him on AI. He called for more regulation in a speech delivered alongside the pontiff at the presidential palace.
“The digital revolution must propel us forward, not shackle us,” Mr Macron said. “It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that the most powerful models do not end up in the hands of a few who would decide for all of humanity, and that the most exponential advances do not lead us to lose control.”
