Pope Francis concluded this Saturday, September 23, with a giant mass at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, a two-day visit largely dominated by the denunciation of the fate reserved for migrants.
3 mins
“ I will go to Marseille, but not to France », Pope Francis explained in August, on the plane bringing him back from World Youth Day. A way of making it clear that his visit to the Marseille city was not a state visit. “ Hello Marseille, hello France », he nevertheless said this Saturday afternoon in front of nearly 60,000 people who came to attend mass at the Vélodrome stadium, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.
Under bright sunshine, the head of the Catholic Church was acclaimed as he toured the lawn of the Olympique de Marseille den, the city’s emblematic football club, in a popemobile. In his homily, he denounced the “ tragic rejection of human life, which is today denied to many people who emigrate », hammering home one last time this message of welcome to migrants which punctuated his stay of less than 48 hours in this large Mediterranean port, with a history and population shaped by migration.
It is the opposite of a flat, cold heart, settled in a quiet life, which armors itself in indifference and becomes impermeable, which hardens, insensitive to everything and to everyone, even to the tragic rejection of human life which is today denied to many people who emigrate, to many children who have not yet been born, and to many abandoned elderly people.
Pope Francis praises the “thrill”, a surge of life caused by faith
In the morning, he closed with a long speech the Mediterranean Meetings which brought together for a week 70 bishops and young people from around this sea marked by the presence of the three great monotheistic religions. With his face less closed, his voice clearer and more dynamic than when he arrived, Pope Francis declared that the Mediterranean, which concentrates the challenges of the entire world – climatic, cultural and economic – could be a laboratory for peace.
As the day before, the pope spoke of extremism, archaic and bellicose nationalisms which are making the dream of the community of nations disappear, and once again denounced those who abandon migrants to the dangers of the sea, reports our special envoy, Marie Casadebaig. “ Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they seek hospitality “, he launched, believing that this process must be managed “ with European responsibility capable of facing objective difficulties “.
One-on-one with Emmanuel Macron
After praising on Friday those who rescue migrants at sea, during a ceremony at the emblematic Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde basilica, he received this Saturday in audience officials from the NGO SOS Méditerranée, based in Marseille, which is chartering a rescue boat. At the end of the morning, the Pope spoke for half an hour with Emmanuel Macron, whose government must soon present a new law on immigration, where the question of the regularization of undocumented workers is debated.
Also listenWorld Religions – The migration issue at the center of the Pope’s visit to Marseille
The Pope also indirectly mentioned the law expected in France on the end of life, warning against “ perspective falsely worthy of a gentle death “. According to the French presidency, the two men notably discussed these two subjects during their interview, with “ a real joint desire to fight » against smugglers « and provide human solutions “. On the other hand, they did not go into detail about the text on the end of life, which could go so far as to include a “ active assistance in dying “.
This trip, the first by a sovereign pontiff to Marseille in nearly 500 years, seems to have aroused less enthusiasm than expected, particularly on the popemobile route on the way to the mass, where the crowd seemed significantly smaller than the 100 000 people expected, even if no official figures will be available. Receiving a standing ovation from a crowd, the Pope concluded the mass in the Vélodrome Cathedral by calling, in French, for support. “ Don’t forget to pray for me, it’s not an easy job », he launched, after having mentioned, in Italian, the 86 victims of the attack of July 14, 2016 in Nice.
(And with AFP)