VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo will begin a four-day visit to France on Friday, becoming the first pope in nearly 20 years to make a formal visit.

His trip comes as the Catholic Church continues efforts to rebuild trust after a major 2021 report revealed widespread abuse of children by Catholic priests and lay workers.

The pope is expected to attract large crowds during his three-city tour, while also meeting survivors of abuse and holding talks with French, European and international leaders.

The visit will begin in Paris, where around 600,000 people have registered to attend an outdoor Mass on September 26 near the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

"Pope Leo's visit to France has sparked a real tidal wave" of interest, retired French Bishop Marc Stenger told Reuters.

Stenger said the large number of people registering for Mass showed that French Catholics wanted the Church to play a role amid global uncertainty.

In Paris, Leo is due to meet President Emmanuel Macron and other French political leaders at the Élysée Palace. He will also visit UNESCO headquarters, the United Nations organization responsible for education, science, and culture.

Leo, the first US-born pope, has previously criticized the war in Iran, drawing anger from Trump. The pope is also expected to speak about artificial intelligence during his visit to UNESCO.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the pope was expected to discuss the meaning of human life and what makes people different from machines and technology.

Leo will also hold a prayer service at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. It will be the first papal visit to the cathedral since a major fire nearly destroyed the Gothic landmark in 2019.

The pope will then travel to Lourdes in southwestern France, one of the world's most famous Catholic pilgrimage sites. The visit will include a meeting with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

Seven survivors are expected to meet Leo on September 27, organizers say. The Vatican has not released further details. It normally provides information about meetings between the pope and abuse survivors only after they have taken place.

The meeting comes five years after a major French investigation into historical abuse within the Catholic Church.

A 2021 report estimated that around 330,000 children in France had been abused by Catholic priests and other Church workers over a period of seven decades. The report said Church authorities had shown extreme indifference towards victims.

French bishops have since introduced compensation schemes and new measures aimed at preventing further abuse. However, survivors and their supporters have continued to demand greater accountability from Church leaders.

Stenger said the abuse scandals had seriously damaged the Church's credibility and left deep wounds among French Catholics.

A senior Vatican official said Leo had personally requested that the Lourdes meeting be organized as a dialogue. Survivors from different parts of France and people with different experiences of abuse are expected to take part, including some who were abused as adults.

Lourdes itself has also been linked to a separate abuse controversy involving Rev. Marko Rupnik, a prominent priest and artist who had links to the Vatican.

More than 20 women have accused Rupnik of sexual abuse. He has not publicly responded to the allegations and is currently facing a canonical trial at the Vatican.

The Lourdes sanctuary contains a series of mosaics Rupnik created. In August, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said he had ordered the mosaics to be covered during Leo's visit.

The pope's final stop will be Metz, a city near the border between France and Germany. It was once home to Robert Schuman, a key figure in creating the European Union.