Pope Leo XIV attends vespers evening prayer at Notre-Dame in Paris

Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church, was in Paris on Thursday, 25 September 2026, where he took part in vespers, the evening prayer service, at Notre-Dame Cathedral. The event was captured in video footage produced by AFP and published by the French news outlet France24.

Vespers is one of the Catholic Church's daily canonical hours, a liturgical prayer service typically held in the evening that includes the recitation of psalms, hymns and prayers. Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of France's best-known and most symbolically significant churches, and the Pope's presence there is regarded as a notable event both for the French Catholic community and for the wider public.

The video clip, just over a minute long, was published on the evening of 25 September and shows the Pope taking part in the evening service at the cathedral. The source material does not provide further details about the broader schedule of the Pope's visit to Paris.

The visit draws attention in part because Notre-Dame Cathedral continues to hold symbolic importance as one of France's principal religious and cultural landmarks. No additional details about the purpose of the visit or other related events were included in the available material.