Icam
29 Sep 2026
Ever since Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France was announced, a sense of anticipation had been building across Icam campuses, with enthusiasm, smiles, impatience, curiosity… and questions too. What would we take away from this encounter? What would he say to us? But everyone shared the same certainty and the same desire: to experience an exceptional moment that would stay with them forever!
Unforgettable moments of communion and hope
On Friday 25 September at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, then on Saturday 26 September on the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Élysées, Icam students and staff experienced powerful encounters with Pope Leo XIV, in an atmosphere of joy and fraternity. Nearly 300 students from the Icam Grand Paris Sud, Lille, Ouest and Strasbourg-Europe campuses had travelled to Paris to take part in the vigil and the Mass celebrated by the Pope.
Students from Icam Toulouse travelled to Lourdes on 27 and 28 September with the Toulouse student chaplaincy and the diocese, in particular to attend the Mass celebrated by the Pope in the Sanctuary meadow.
They shared these powerful moments of hope, prayer and communion with thousands of other young people, accompanied by the chaplains of the spiritual office (BdSpi).
Caption: Four chaplains on the Place de la Concorde
A message from the Pope to young people: looking to the future with hope
At the Stade de France, where 80,000 young people had gathered, the evening combined songs, prayers, the discovery of French saints and the words of the Holy Father.
With the words “Do not be afraid of the future”, Pope Leo XIV invited young people to look to the future with hope, without letting themselves be held back by their fears or uncertainties. Drawing on Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy, he called on them to strive for goodness and to fight the good fight of faith, a fight that is not directed against others and whose “only weapon is the love that gives itself”. Discernment, he reminded them, is nourished by prayer, silence, service and the example of the saints.
The following day, on the Place de la Concorde, the Pope continued this dialogue around a passage from the Gospel: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me”. A thirst for meaning, for truth, for relationships: he presented Christ as the source capable of quenching it, and invited everyone to become, in turn, a source of life for others.
For the students, these words echoed the questions they grapple with during their years at school. What meaning should I give to my skills? What place do others have in my choices? How can I serve the world?
“The Pope didn’t just speak to us, as young people, about our present. He invited us to see our lives as a journey, to make choices and to take charge of our future”.
Words that deeply resonate with Icam’s vocation
During this visit, Pope Leo XIV gave a very special place to young people. “His message invites us to see young people not only as the future of our society, but also as fully engaged players in the present, capable of transforming the world through their energy, their freedom, their commitment and their care for others,” says a member of staff. It is a message that particularly resonates with Icam’s vocation.
This meeting point between the Holy Father’s message and Icam’s vocation opens up a genuine educational path. Behind academic and professional success, there is a person called to grow, to discern, to love, to serve and to find their place in the world.
“Between the songs at the Stade de France, the words of Pope Leo XIV and the Mass on the Place de la Concorde, we experienced a wonderful and unique moment, full of joy, happiness and hope,” students and staff say with one voice.
“Perhaps the most beautiful fruit of these days is this: opening up for each person a path of friendship with Christ, a friendship built on trust, dialogue, prayer and a shared journey,” says Father Maurice Houeha, mechanics lecturer, chaplain at Icam Grand Paris Sud and coordinator of Icam’s chaplaincy in France.
The smiling faces and conversations on the way home bear witness to what a tremendous opportunity it was to experience this encounter. What matters most is also what each person will carry back into their daily life.
🙏 A huge thank you to the BdSpi and Icam’s chaplains for making this human and spiritual adventure possible.
