Upon his arrival at the Paris cathedral, Pope Leo greeted the Church in France before beginning the celebration of Vespers.
On his first day, Notre Dame became a symbol of the unity of the country’s Catholic faith. The Pontiff demonstrated this by stopping to greet the thousands of faithful waiting for him inside, while also taking time to visit and see the cathedral.
One of the most moving moments came as the cathedral’s own choir, the Maîtrise de Notre-Dame, sang. Pope Leo stopped before the relic of the Crown of Thorns, which King Louis IX brought to the city in the 13th century.
