The Supreme Pontiff said at the conclusion of a meeting of bishops and young people from all over the Mediterranean region that migration “is a reality of our times, a process that includes three continents around the Mediterranean and must be managed with wise foresight that includes a European response.”
It is expected that the Velodrome stadium in the second largest French city, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, will be filled with about 60,000 people, and up to 100,000 people may gather on Prado Avenue to watch the Pope in his famous open-top vehicle before the Mass.
On Friday, on the first day of his two-day visit to the city, the Pope addressed the growing hostility towards migrants in Europe, stressing the need for governments to rescue asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in their countries.
In this regard, Beninese citizen Frankie Domingo, who heads a group of undocumented immigrants in Marseille, said that he hopes that “the Pope’s visit will give us a little hope back… and calm political tensions.”
Domingo described the coastal city as a “global, multicultural and multi-religious center,” but noted that it “faces great difficulties such as the housing problem and drug trafficking, which claims lives every day.”
40 people were killed in shooting incidents in Marseille this year, and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to fund the development of the city’s infrastructure in an attempt to stop its decline.
The Pope’s visit was received mixed by the right, including his Catholic and conservative representatives, who criticized his political interventions and accused him of doing too much for immigrants.
In a country governed since 1905 by the principle of secularism, the leftist opposition accused Macron of “trampling” on the state’s religious neutrality by announcing his participation in the Great Mass on Saturday.
The Pope’s visit comes a few days after thousands of people arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa, which prompted the European Union to adopt a contingency plan to help Rome manage migration flows from North Africa.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stressed on Tuesday that France “will not receive migrants” who arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
– ‘Duty to civilization’ –
After participating in a prayer with the priests of the cathedral, the Pope met with Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious officials in front of the monument to sailors and migrants lost at sea, renewing his call to receive refugees.
The Pope, who since his election has long denounced leaving migrants to face their fate, said, “We cannot remain witnesses to the tragedies of drowning due to abhorrent trafficking operations and intolerant indifference. We must save people who are in danger of drowning when they are left on the waves. It is a human duty, it is the duty of civilization!”
“We were counting on strong words, but he went even further than we had hoped,” François Thoma, head of the SOS Mediterranee organization, said in a statement to Agence France-Presse after the Pope delivered his speech.
The 86-year-old Pope had indicated that he would not come to France on a state visit, but rather to Marseille, in order to denounce the tragedy of sinking migrant ships and defend their cause.
In addition to the issue of migrants, the Pope is expected to discuss other issues such as economic inequality and climate change.
#Tens #thousands #Marseille #await #Pope #Francis #tour #light #support #immigrant
2023-09-23 09:37:05
