Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass in Paris draws many more than expected ⁰

Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass on Saturday proved to be a huge event, drawing 200,000 more people than had registered to attend.

The event drew people of various faiths and ages, highlighting the church’s enduring influence despite secular trends.

Here, according to estimates from the organizers and the Paris police department, are some of the eye-popping numbers:

600,000: the number of people who registered to attend the Mass.

800,000: the Vatican’s estimated number of people who actually turned up.

2,400: priests and deacons, plus about 100 bishops.

About 3 kilometers (nearly two miles): the length of the security zone closed to road traffic for the event — stretching from Place de la Concorde, up the Champs-Elysées and past the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the famous avenue.

Dozens: babies and young children that people brought out of the crowd to receive a papal caress on the head from Leo as he rode slowly down the Champs-Elysées aboard the popemobile.

4 meters (13 feet): the top-to-bottom length of a golden cross hung above the stage on Concorde Plaza.

14,500: police officers, gendarmes, military personnel and firefighters mobilized in Paris for the second day of the papal visit.

27 million: the expected cost of the visit in euros (the equivalent to nearly $31 million).

Culled from Crux