Pope and Macron make joint appeal for European unity in Metz

Pope Leo XIV used the final day of his France visit to call for peace and unity in Europe during an event in Metz. President Emmanuel Macron said Europe should recover the courage of its founders and resist a resurgence of nationalism. At an interfaith meeting, the pope said violence or oppression cannot be justified in God's name.

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Pope Leo XIV spent the last day of his four-day France trip in Metz, a northeastern city that has passed between France and Germany during past wars. The city is tied to Robert Schuman, an EU founding figure buried nearby. At the Robert Schuman Convention Centre, the pope joined an interfaith gathering where the "Metz Appeal" was read, a declaration by French religious communities urging dialogue and peace. He said using God's name to justify violence or oppression dishonors it, and that religious speech should calm hearts and words.

Macron, speaking alongside the pope, said Europe should recover its founders' boldness and reject a nationalist revival. A Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral was scheduled later, with Macron expected. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez welcomed the pope. Historian Miles Pattenden described Leo's visit as part of a papal rebalancing: after Francis emphasized the Global South and the Church's peripheries, Leo is refocusing on Europe's historic Catholic heartlands, including France's complex ties to faith, secularism and European identity.

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