Speaking a week before the competitions are set to begin, the Pope underscored the significance of the Games as an opportunity for the nation to come together. He also voiced concerns about ongoing armed conflicts and called for a truce during the event, emphasizing that the Olympics could be a unique occasion for fostering peace and bringing people together.

"I hope that the organisation of these Games will be for all the people of France a great opportunity for fraternal harmony which, beyond differences and opposition, will strengthen the unity of the nation," the pontiff wrote in a message to the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.

Francis, 87, repeated calls for a global truce in conflicts during the Games, to be held from 26 July to 11 August, an event that ‘by nature brings peace and not war’. ‘In this turbulent period when world peace is seriously threatened, I fervently hope that all will commit themselves to respect this truce in the hope of finding a solution to the conflicts and a return to harmony,’ he said.

The appeal by the head of the world's Catholic Church comes amid a stalemate in French politics after elections left the country with no clear path to forming a new government. France is going through a turbulent political phase with the far-right National Rally (RN) the most voted force in the 9 June European elections, to which centrist president Emmanuel Macron responded by surprisingly dissolving the lower house and calling early legislative elections.

The second round of the elections on 7 July produced a parliament divided into three blocs: a left-wing coalition, which emerged as the leading force but failed to win an absolute majority; the ruling party, which is united around Macron; and the extreme right. In the absence of political consensus, France will have an interim government during the Games, headed by the resigned prime minister Gabriel Attal.

G7, Pope Francis call for Olympic truce

Pope Francis also joined the call for an Olympic truce by G7 members in recent weeks, given the current ‘particularly dark historical moment’, as he writes in the preface of the book ‘Peace Games. The Soul of the Olympic and Paralympic Games’, an initiative of Athletica Vaticana. ‘My hope is that Olympic and Paralympic sport, with its gripping human stories of redemption and brotherhood, of sacrifice and loyalty, of team spirit and inclusion, can be an original diplomatic channel for overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles,’ he writes.

The presidents of France and China, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping, had already called in May for an Olympic truce in all conflicts during the upcoming Paris Games, which would also allow progress to be made in the search for solutions. Emmanuel Macron has tried again and again, but his calls for a peaceful Olympics without war in Russia and Ukraine remain unsuccessful. 

Vladimir Putin rejected the French president's call for a ceasefire during the Paris 2024 Games, as did his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.