Pope Leo warns in France that UN risks becoming 'charade'

Pope Leo said on Friday that the United Nations and other multilateral groups were in crisis, warning in a speech at the Paris headquarters of the UN culture and education body, UNESCO, that international dialogue risked becoming a "charade".

The first US pope, speaking on a weekend visit to France as a tense UN General Assembly unfolded in New York, also decried world leaders who disrespected the rule of law, without naming individuals.

"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," said the pontiff.

The UN and other multilateral groups "are experiencing a crisis of effectiveness", he said. "Dialogue is seen as an obstacle to action rather than a resource for peace, a charade rather than an opportunity to seek the common good together."

Leo, who became pope in May 2025, drew the ire of US President Donald Trump earlier in the year after criticizing the Iran war.

This year's UN General Assembly, ending on Monday, has been the scene of heated arguments. In a speech on Tuesday, Trump threatened to annihilate Iran if it did not agree terms to end the war. On Thursday, dozens of delegates left the assembly hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke.

Trump announced in 2025 that the US would withdraw from UNESCO.

Leo is on a whirlwind three-city visit to France, where he is seeking to repair the Church's standing there after abuse scandals sparked nationwide shock.

POPE WARNS ABOUT AI RISKS

The pope, who has made sounding the alarm about the risks of AI a central part of his 16-month papacy, put the issue at the heart of his visit to France, the first by a pope in nearly 20 years.

Earlier on Friday, he urged the world to reconsider the development of artificial intelligence, warning in a speech to French leaders that AI could create 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, speaking under the gilded ceilings of the Elysee Palace.

MESSAGE OF PEACE

Leo was greeted at the Paris Orly airport, under a clear blue sky, by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, and by children who sang for him and asked for autographs. During his four-day visit, he will travel to the famed Catholic shrine at Lourdes, in the southwest, and to Metz, on the German border.

Telling reporters on the plane to Paris that he was coming to convey a message of peace, Leo added: "It is a message which at this time, as we all may know, is particularly important."

The pope was due to lead a prayer service later on Friday at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral, in the first visit by a pope since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the Gothic masterpiece in 2019.

SECULAR NATION

France, a secular nation where the separation of church and state is enshrined in a 1905 law, has witnessed a steady decline in affiliation to the Catholic Church during the post-war era, mirroring a trend in other traditionally Catholic countries.

Leo's visit comes as Catholic leaders in France have been at odds with the government over the 2024 enshrining of a right to abortion in the French constitution and the passage of the law legalizing assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses.

On Friday, the pope strongly reiterated the Church's pro-life teachings, criticizing initiatives to allow assisted dying for those who have incurable illnesses.

"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 TO MEET ABUSE SURVIVORS

Meanwhile, local Church leaders hope the pope's visit will repair the Church's standing after a crushing 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.

French bishops have since introduced compensation and safeguarding measures, but survivors have continued to press Church leaders to demonstrate accountability. 

"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 will meet seven French victims of abuse by Catholic clergy on Sunday in Lourdes.