Paris, Sept 13: Pope Benedict XVI Saturday urged Catholics to respond to Christ`s call in an open-air mass attended by some 260,000 people to celebrate his first visit to France, before leaving on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
In brilliant morning sunshine, the leader of the world`s one billion Roman Catholics arrived by "popemobile" at Paris` historic Invalides complex south of the Seine, where 60,000 youths camped out overnight after a candlelit riverside procession.
The 81-year-old pontiff took place at the dais, planted with 12 olive trees as a peace symbol, beside 50 cardinals and bishops and 900 white-robed priests and before a row of French government members including Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Tens of thousands of people, many of them families with young children, flocked to the square and surrounding streets, cheering and waving flags.
Beamed onto half a dozen giant video screens, the pope appealed in his homily to young people considering a religious vocation, urging them: "Do not be afraid to give your life to Christ!... Dear young and not so young who are listening to me, do not leave Christ`s call unanswered."
Benedict gave communion to some 40 people, who kneeled to receive the Catholic sacrament from the pope, as dozens of priests fanned out across the square to officiate for the pilgrims.
The pope, whose visit comes as France faces a freefall in the number of churchgoers despite its deep Christian roots, has received a triumphant welcome with 40,000 people joining a nighttime procession Friday from Notre Dame cathedral to the Invalides.
Remy Dubois-Matra, 62, a priest from Reims in Champagne country east of Paris, bused into Paris overnight with 200 parishioners, sporting red headbands and white-and-blue scarves.
"Coming here was the obvious thing to do," he said.
"We`re a bit sleepy, but very excited to see the pope for real," said Juliette Loobuyck, 18, a scout leader from Reims, huddled with her group in a cluster of sleeping bags.
"If we want the church to stay alive, to stay standing, it`s important for him to be here, and for us to be here too," she said.
Benoit Richard, 45, head of a Catholic school in eastern Paris, said it was "not so much about seeing the pope, but being here to listen, as a group, as a community."
"It`s good to see Christians come out of their bubble a bit," agreed Valerie Louisy, 52, one of 5,000 Christian volunteers at the Invalides, looking out over the sea of youngsters, families and elderly couples.
"There is a real fervour. It makes us realise how many of us there are."
This is Benedict`s first trip to France since his election in 2005 following the death of John Paul II and his 10th trip abroad after Australia in July.
After lunching with bishops in Paris, the pope leaves for the southwestern town of Lourdes to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Vatican-recognized apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous .
Between 100,000 and 150,000 people are expected to descend on the town -- slighter fewer than predicted due to bad weather, local officials said.
Known as the Church`s "eldest daughter" since Frankish king Clovis converted in the fifth century, France is home to 35 million baptised Catholics, although polls show few feel a strong sense of belonging to the Church.
Fifty-one percent say they consider themselves Catholic, down from 80 percent in the early 1990s, and only 10 percent attend mass regularly.
While Catholicism remains by far France`s number one religion, the country is also home to Europe`s biggest Muslim and Jewish communities and staunchly upholds a 1905 law enshrining the separation of Church and State.
On Friday the pope threw his weight behind a call by President Nicolas Sarkozy to rethink the strict separation and recognise religion`s role in building an "ethical" society.
Sarkozy, a twice-divorced lapsed Catholic, broke a French taboo during a trip to the Vatican last year by calling for a "positive secularism" that would allow space for religion in public life.
Following a reception hosted Friday by Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni, the pope also met leaders of France`s 600,000-strong Jewish and five-million strong Muslim communities, before delivering a keynote speech in which he warned humanity faced "disaster" if it turned away from religion.
Bureau Report
