Pope Leo XIV began his Lourdes pilgrimage Saturday evening with a silent prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions, after drawing hundreds of thousands of worshippers to a massive outdoor Mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde earlier in the day.
The grotto is a natural limestone cave, where 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous reported 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in 1858.
The Catholic Church later accepted that the visions were of the Virgin Mary.
Bernadette’s visions, and the subsequent discovery of allegedly healing spring waters, led the church to build a sanctuary there.
The site, near the Spanish border, draws millions of pilgrims annually, including sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the famed spring water.
On Sunday, the pope will meet French bishops before celebrating an outdoor Mass on the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes’ Prairie, followed by the Angelus prayer.
In the afternoon, Leo will meet staff and sick people at the Accueil Notre-Dame, before holding a private meeting with contemplative religious sisters.
Leo will also meet privately with seven survivors of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic personnel.
The outcome will be closely watched by critics who say the church hasn’t done enough to confront the problem.
Some survivors’ groups have criticized the decision to select individuals rather than representatives of established organizations.
The pope will conclude his stay in Lourdes with one of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes’ signature rites: the Rosary and a torchlight procession on Sunday evening.
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