Pope Leo XIV [Getty Images]
Pope Leo XIV [Getty Images]

Pope Leo XIV will make an official visit to France later this month, but the trip has drawn attention after the pontiff reportedly declined all of President Emmanuel Macron's planned ceremonial events.

The snub is an awkward setback for Macron, who had hoped to showcase the papal visit as a diplomatic achievement. The French presidential office denied any rift between the Vatican and Paris.

Leo XIV, who will tour France from Sept. 25 through Sept. 28, politely turned down the elaborate state-visit program proposed by Macron's office, according to the French Catholic publication La Croix.

Differences between the two sides also emerged over the pope's planned visit to Notre-Dame Cathedral on Sept. 25.

Macron had wanted to accompany the pope inside the cathedral for a few minutes to show him the restored interior. Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024 — five years after a fire gutted it. The Vatican, however, conveyed that the pope wished only to quietly celebrate an evening Mass. A Vatican source said the president's request was not unreasonable, but was "the kind of thing that would suit a different kind of visit."

La Croix reported that the pope wanted to avoid a repeat of the atmosphere surrounding the cathedral's reopening ceremony in December 2024, when Macron invited world leaders including then-President-elect Donald Trump, Britain's Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The pope views Notre-Dame as a church, not a national monument, the publication said.

The Vatican also declined all other events arranged by the Élysée Palace. Macron had originally planned a welcome ceremony with the Republican Guard, the award of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, and a large state banquet.

The French weekly Le Canard Enchaîné suggested the pope's refusals may signal his displeasure over France's legalization of assisted dying earlier this summer.

The Élysée Palace announced Wednesday (local time) that Leo XIV will meet Macron at the palace for about an hour starting at 11 a.m. on Sept. 25.

The French presidential office denied reports of tension between the Vatican and Paris. A presidential official told the weekly Le Point that "there is no tense atmosphere" and that "it was clear from the earliest discussions that the standard format of a state visit would not be appropriate for the pope."

Pope marks 71st birthday, reverses pandemic-era clergy pay cuts

Meanwhile, the pope recently celebrated his 71st birthday.

The Vatican announced that Leo XIV issued a motu proprio reversing the clergy pay cuts introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yonhap reported Monday (local time). A motu proprio is a document issued by the pope on his own initiative to address special or urgent needs within the Church.

"Those measures were necessary to respond to the exceptional challenges of the pandemic," Leo XIV said. "The Holy See can now continue its efforts toward financial sustainability through other means."

His predecessor, Pope Francis, cut the salaries of Vatican cardinals by 10 percent in March 2021 to address the fiscal crisis caused by the pandemic. Pay was also reduced for heads of Vatican departments and lower-ranking priests and nuns, though not as steeply. Lay employees at lower grades, however, continued to receive guaranteed pay increases.

"The letter in the form of a motu proprio of March 2021 is abrogated, but the effects produced at the time remain in force," the pope said.


yul@heraldcorp.com