Pope Leo XIV will make a four-day state visit to France that includes a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the renowned Catholic shrine near the Spanish border that receives about 3 million visitors annually. Bernadette Soubirous’s 1858 visions and the spring she identified made Lourdes a major destination for those seeking spiritual and physical healing; the Church has recognized 72 miraculous cures from more than 7,000 examined cases. The pope’s program includes meetings with French bishops and survivors of abuse, while mosaics by artist Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik have been covered amid an ongoing canonical inquiry.
Pope Leo XIV Visits Lourdes: What to Know About One of Catholicism’s Most Famous Pilgrimage Sites
People enter the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire basilica in Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2026 . (AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)(AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)
Pope Leo XIV will visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes this weekend as part of a four-day apostolic trip to France — the first official papal state visit to the country in 18 years. Located near France’s border with Spain, Lourdes draws about 3 million pilgrims annually, including many who travel seeking spiritual consolation or physical healing from the spring in the Grotto of Massabielle.
How Lourdes Became a Pilgrimage Center
The rise of Lourdes is inseparable from the story of Bernadette Soubirous. A poor, largely uneducated girl who suffered from asthma, Bernadette reported 18 visions of a woman in white in the Grotto of Massabielle between February and July 1858. The Catholic Church later judged these occurrences to be appearances of the Virgin Mary, and the Church’s recognition in 1862 helped establish Lourdes as a major international pilgrimage destination.
Tourists walk in the streets of Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)(AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)
Bernadette entered the Sisters of Charity convent in Nevers in 1866 and lived there until her death at age 35. She was canonized as Saint Bernadette in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. Pilgrims recount that during the ninth apparition Bernadette was told, “Go and drink at the spring and wash yourself there,” which helped establish the custom of drinking and bathing in the spring water.
What Pilgrims Experience
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes comprises 22 distinct sites, including three basilicas: the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (the oldest), the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the underground Basilica of Saint Pius X. Visitors can follow one of two Stations of the Cross routes, view cast-iron or marble statuary, and use the sanctuary’s baths fed by the spring water (about 12 °C / 53.6 °F).
Tourists walk in the streets of Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)(AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)
Although scientists say the water has no proven therapeutic properties, millions have come to drink it, bathe in it, or take small amounts home. Since 1858 more than 7,000 reported healings have been examined by the Church; 72 of those cases have been officially recognized as miraculous.
Numbers, Logistics and the Papal Visit
Fewer than 15,000 people live in Lourdes year-round, yet the town offers nearly 10,000 hotel rooms and roughly 21,200 beds — the second-largest hotel capacity in France after Paris. Demand spikes during major events: with hundreds of thousands expected to attend Pope Leo’s visit, accommodation prices have surged, with some hotels listing rooms for over €2,000 per night.
A banners announces the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2026 as part of his official visit to France from Sept. 26 to 28. (AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)(AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)
Although about 42% of pilgrims typically come from France, Lourdes attracts visitors from more than 160 countries. Pilgrimages from Central and Eastern Europe increased sharply after the end of the Cold War; Poland remains one of the top sending countries.
Controversy and Pastoral Priorities
The visit will take place amid sensitive issues. Mosaics on the façade of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, created by Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik, a Slovenian artist and former Jesuit, have been covered for the visit. Rupnik is the subject of abuse allegations and an ongoing canonical investigation, and the Vatican has publicly acknowledged a canonical process.
Banners announce the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV in Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday Sept. 8, 2026 as part of his official visit to France from Sept. 26 to 28. (AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)(AP Photo/Fred Scheiber)
Pope Leo is scheduled to meet seven survivors of sexual abuse during his Lourdes program. Church and civil investigations into clerical abuse in France have underscored the scale of the crisis: a 2021 independent report estimated roughly 330,000 children were abused by clergy or other Church personnel over a span of 70 years.
Itinerary Highlights
The Sanctuary said the pope will arrive at Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées airport on Saturday and begin his pilgrimage with a prayer at the Grotto of the Apparitions. On Sunday he will meet the French bishops, celebrate Mass on the Prairie, and lead the Angelus prayer. In the afternoon he will visit Accueil Notre-Dame to meet staff and sick pilgrims and will conclude the Lourdes portion of the trip by presiding over the sanctuary’s Rosary and torchlight procession.
Why Lourdes Matters: For millions, Lourdes is both a place of private devotion and public witness — a complex site where faith, hope for healing, tourism and institutional accountability intersect.
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