Pope Leo XIV Prays at Lourdes Grotto, Begins Pilgrimage After Paris Mass

Pope Leo XIV opened his pilgrimage to Lourdes on Saturday evening with a silent prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions, following a day that had earlier drawn hundreds of thousands of worshippers to a large outdoor Mass at Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The grotto is a natural limestone cave where, in 1858, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous reported eighteen visions of a lady dressed in white. The Catholic Church later recognised those visions as appearances of the Virgin Mary. The reported visions, and the subsequent discovery of spring waters said to have healing properties, led the Church to establish a sanctuary at the site.

Located near the Spanish border, Lourdes draws millions of pilgrims each year, among them sick and disabled believers seeking a cure from the spring water.

Arriving by popemobile, the pope waved to the faithful before kneeling in prayer before the statue of the Madonna. He also drank the holy healing water and handed the glass to a prelate beside him, and left gifts on a table beneath the statue.

On Sunday, the pope is scheduled to meet French bishops before celebrating an outdoor Mass on the Prairie of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, to be followed by the Angelus prayer. In the afternoon he will meet staff and sick people at the Accueil Notre-Dame, and then hold a private meeting with contemplative religious sisters.

He is also due to meet privately with seven survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic personnel. The encounter will be closely watched by critics who say the Church has not done enough to address the issue. Some survivors' groups have criticised the decision to select individuals rather than representatives of established organisations.

The pope will close his stay in Lourdes with one of the sanctuary's signature rites: the Rosary and a torchlight procession on Sunday evening.