Pope Leo XIV has warned that the United Nations and other multilateral institutions are facing a deepening crisis, cautioning at UNESCO headquarters in Paris that international dialogue could descend into a “charade”.
The first US pope, speaking during a weekend visit to France as a tense UN General Assembly continued in New York, also condemned world leaders who show contempt for the rule of law, though he did not identify anyone by name.
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“Instead of respecting the law, those in power invoke it when it serves their interests and disregard it when it restrains them, treating even justice itself as though it were a commodity to be bought and sold,” the pontiff said.
The UN and other multilateral organisations, he added, “are experiencing a crisis of effectiveness”.
Leo, who became pope in May 2025, angered US President Donald Trump earlier this year after speaking out against the Iran war.
This year’s UN General Assembly, which ends on Monday, has been marked by sharp disputes.
In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Trump threatened to annihilate Iran unless it agreed to terms to end the war.
Watch: Pope Leo arrives in France for the Vatican’s state visit
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Yesterday, dozens of delegates walked out of the assembly hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking.
Mr Trump announced in 2025 that the US would leave UNESCO.
The pope is making a whirlwind three-city tour of France, where he hopes to restore the Church’s standing after abuse scandals caused widespread shock across the country.
Pope warns about AI risks
Warning about artificial intelligence has become a defining theme of the pope’s 16-month papacy, and the issue has taken centre stage during his visit to France, the first papal trip there in almost 20 years.
Earlier, he called on the world to reconsider how AI is developed, telling French leaders that the technology could usher in a future where “a paradise of machines” takes control of the Earth.
“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a ‘paradise of machines’ invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment,” he said beneath the gilded ceilings of the Elysee Palace.
Pope Leo XIV seen in central Paris
Message of peace
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte greeted Pope Leo at Paris Orly airport, alongside children who sang for him and asked him to sign autographs.
Over the course of his four-day visit, he will travel to the celebrated Catholic shrine at Lourdes in the southwest and to Metz, near the German border.
Speaking to reporters aboard the plane to Paris, Leo said he was travelling to deliver a message of peace. He added: “It is a message which at this time, as we all may know, is particularly important.”
Later, Pope Leo reached Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, with cheering crowds lining the streets of the French capital on the first day of the landmark visit.
After waving to well-wishers from his popemobile, the pontiff entered the famous cathedral, which reopened in 2024 after a devastating fire nearly destroyed it five years earlier.
He was scheduled to lead a prayer service there later.
Secular nation
France is a secular country, with the separation of church and state enshrined in a 1905 law. Like other traditionally Catholic nations, it has seen Church affiliation decline steadily since the post-war period.
Pope Leo’s visit comes as Catholic leaders in France remain at odds with the government over the 2024 decision to enshrine abortion rights in the French constitution and the passage of a law legalising assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses.
The pope has forcefully restated the Church’s pro-life position while criticising proposals that would permit assisted dying for people with incurable conditions.
“I am concerned… by those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one’s own death,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV and France’s President Emmanuel Macron and shake hands
Pope to meet abuse survivors
Local Church leaders are also hoping the visit will help rebuild the institution’s reputation after a devastating 2021 report concluded that about 330,000 French children had suffered abuse by Catholic clergy and lay officials over seven decades.
French bishops have since established compensation and safeguarding programmes, but survivors continue to demand clear accountability from Church authorities.
“Leo bears the immense responsibility of ‘declaring enough is enough’,” Alain Esquerre, 66, a spokesperson for victims at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram Catholic institution, told Reuters.
The pope is due to meet seven French survivors of abuse by Catholic clergy on Sunday in Lourdes.
