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Pope Leo XIV gave a mass in central Paris on Saturday, as the city turned into a "huge open air cathedral," BBC religion editor Aleem Maqbool reports.

An estimated 700,000 people gathered for the Mass celebrated by the Pope from a special altar on the Place de la Concorde, on the second day of his four-day visit to France.

The Pope then travelled to Lourdes, where he prayed in the grotto where the Virgin Mary was believed to have appeared in the 19th century.

He will give Mass there on Sunday.

President Emmanuel Macron met Pope Leo on Friday, but did not attend Saturday's events, largely to avoid appearing to breach France's strict rules on the separation of Church and state.

Read more about what Pope Leo's visit means for France and the history of Catholicism in the country.

Watch: Thousands turn out to see Pope during Lourdes and Paris visit. Video, 00:01:27Watch: Thousands turn out to see Pope during Lourdes and Paris visit

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