Pope heads to silent prayer at Grotto of the Apparitions in Lourdes

Pope Leo XIV is taking his opposition to euthanasia and medically assisted

dying to Lourdes, the French Catholic shrine associated with miraculous

cures and now also a place of healing for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Thousands line the streets as Leo made his way on the popemobile to

the Grotto of the Apparitions for a silent prayer after drawing hundreds of thousands of worshippers to a massive outdoor Mass at Paris' Champs-Elysees avenue in the day.

Pope Leo was seen praying at the grotto before drinking the holy healing water.

The grotto is a natural limestone cave that draws millions of pilgrims annually,

including sick and disabled believers hoping for a cure from the famed spring water.

A girl reported 18 visions of a lady dressed in white in 1858 in the grotto,

which the Catholic Church later accepted were visions of the Virgin Mary.