Pope in Paris and Lourdes

Pope Benedict XVI held an outdoor mass in Paris Friday, attracting an estimated 170,000 people to the pope's first visit to France, according to the Associated Press. He will visit Lourdes today, one of the world's most popular religious pilgrimage destinations and the location of one of the world's most well-known reports of Virgin Mary sightings. France is experiencing a steep decline in church attendance.

Find out more about the pope's stops: Paris Travel Guide | Lourdes, France

Find out more about the spiritual side of France: France Cathedral Itinerary

_{Crowds watch the Pope Benedict XVI celebrate a Mass on the Espanade des Invalides, on September 13, 2008 in Paris, France. The four day trip by the Pope to Paris and Lourdes is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate Catholicism in France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)}

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