September 25, 2026, (Inside AI) — Pope Leo begins a four-day visit to France on Friday, a trip that will place artificial intelligence governance alongside clergy abuse accountability at the center of his public agenda. The Vatican confirmed the pope will deliver a Friday address at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where he is expected to renew calls for binding international rules on AI development.
The visit, running through Monday, September 28, includes stops in Paris, the Catholic shrine at Lourdes, and Metz, a city near the German border with symbolic ties to the founding of the European Union. Roughly 600,000 people have registered for an outdoor Mass in central Paris on Saturday, with crowds expected to fill the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
"Pope Leo's visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave" of interest, retired French Bishop Marc Stenger told Reuters.
Leo, the first American pope, has made AI risk a signature concern of his papacy. In a Vatican speech on Thursday, he said the technology could benefit humanity but has introduced "new dangers to security and international peace." He urged global leaders to "govern wisely" in overseeing the industry. The UNESCO address is expected to expand on that theme, with the agency facing budget shortfalls after US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2025.
The pope's AI push arrives at a moment of stalled global coordination. The European Union's AI Act, the world's first comprehensive regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, entered into force in 2024 and is being phased in through 2027. The United States has no comparable federal law, relying instead on executive orders and voluntary commitments from major developers. China has issued interim measures targeting generative AI services. No binding treaty governs AI development across borders, a gap Leo has repeatedly highlighted.
His timing is notable. The UN General Assembly concluded its high-level week in New York this month with AI governance again on the agenda but no breakthrough on enforcement. UNESCO, which published its Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in 2021, has served as the closest thing to a global standard-setting body on the issue. Leo's visit gives that effort a moral platform it has lacked.
The trip also carries heavy domestic weight. Leo is the first pope to make an official visit to France in nearly 20 years. French Church leaders hope the visit will repair the institution's standing after a 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades. French bishops have since introduced compensation and safeguarding measures, but survivors continue to press for accountability.
"Leo bears the immense responsibility of 'declaring enough is enough'," Alain Esquerre, 66, a spokesperson for victims at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram Catholic institution, told Reuters.
The pope will meet seven French victims of clergy abuse on Sunday in Lourdes. The Vatican typically issues statements about such meetings only afterward and has not provided further details.
Leo's schedule begins Friday with speeches to President Emmanuel Macron and other French leaders at the Élysée Palace, followed by the UNESCO address. He will also lead a prayer service at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral, the first papal visit since a fire nearly destroyed the Gothic landmark in 2019.
The visit unfolds against friction between the French Church and the government. France enshrined a right to abortion in its constitution in 2024, a world first, and passed a law earlier this year legalizing assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses. Catholic teaching holds that all human life is sacred and opposes abortion, assisted dying, and capital punishment.
Leo's tour culminates Sunday in Metz with a speech titled "the roots of Europe for peace and unity." Macron has invited leaders from all 27 EU member states, though it remains unclear who will attend. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy may attend, according to media reports. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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For the AI policy community, the pope's UNESCO address represents another attempt to inject moral authority into a governance vacuum. Whether it produces concrete commitments from governments remains an open question. The Vatican has not said whether Leo will propose specific regulatory mechanisms or repeat his broader call for global oversight.
