Pope Leo will head to Lourdes: What to know about one of Catholicism’s most famous pilgrimage sites

Pope Leo XIV will visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes this weekend during a four-day trip to France. This visit marks the first official papal state visit to the country in 18 years.

The sanctuary near the Spanish border serves as a major pilgrimage site where millions of people, including those who are sick or disabled, visit annually. The site is centered around the Grotto of Massabielle, where Bernadette Soubirous reported 18 visions of the Virgin Mary between February and July 1858. Following these reported apparitions, the Church built a sanctuary at the location.

Pilgrims often visit the grotto to drink or wash with water from the local spring. According to the reports, Bernadette stated that during the ninth apparition, the lady in white instructed her to drink from and wash at the spring.