In pictures: Pope's visit to France

About 250,000 worshippers turned out to hear Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass in Paris on Saturday.

A prayer vigil was held at Notre Dame cathedral in honour of the pontiff's first visit to France since his election in 2005.

The Pope later joined pilgrims in Lourdes in southern France - one of the holiest Roman Catholic shrines - where he is due to say Mass on Sunday.

He prayed at the Grotto of the Apparitions, also called Grotto of Massabielle, where the faithful believe that Virgin Mary repeatedly appeared to a young girl 150 years ago.

To commemorate the event, a girl dressed in 19th-Century costume handed him a cup of water from the famous Lourdes spring, which is said to have healing properties.

The pontiff told pilgrims that by making the trip to Lourdes, they enter into an "extraordinary closeness between heaven and earth".

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