Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’s iconic Champs-Elysees to attend an open-air Mass led by Pope Leo XIV.

The Vatican said about 800,000 people were at the service on Saturday – roughly 200,000 more than those who had registered in advance.

The pope greeted flag-waving, cheering crowds from his popemobile during a 2km (1.2-mile) parade along the grand boulevard leading to Place de la Concorde.

An imposing stage built for the mass, topped with a golden cross, and row upon row of choir singers, clergy and worshippers praying under the pope’s gaze on Place de la Concorde marked a new chapter for the history-steeped square that was an execution site during the French Revolution. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined there. For many in France, it embodies the republic and traditionally stages Bastille Day celebrations.

Organisers say it is the only site in central Paris able to hold such large crowds.

But the choice of location has drawn criticism from supporters of France’s strict secularism in public life, rooted in a 1905 law separating church and state. They argue that Place de la Concorde symbolises the republic, and that other venues, such as Les Invalides, the complex where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass with 240,000 people in 2008, would have been more appropriate.