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Pope to Meet Macron and Defend Migrants’ Plight in Marseille Pope Defends Migrants’ Plight in Marseille Ahead of Meeting with Macron
(about 4 hours later)
Pope Francis traveled to southern France on Friday for a two-day visit in the port city of Marseille, where he is expected to meet with President Emmanuel Macron and defend the plight of migrants attempting dangerous Mediterranean crossings to Europe. Pope Francis lamented on Friday that the Mediterranean Sea had become a “huge cemetery” for migrants attempting to reach Europe, on the first day of his visit in the port city of Marseille, France, where he is expected to meet with President Emmanuel Macron.
Francis is attending the closing session of the Mediterranean Meetings, a weeklong gathering of about 70 bishops, youth activists and representatives of other religions from around the Mediterranean Sea, and he has stressed repeatedly that his trip is not an official state visit. Francis, who is attending the closing session of a weeklong gathering of bishops, youth activists and representatives of other religions from around the Mediterranean Sea, said the world needed to react “with deeds, not words.” He also castigated the “fanaticism of indifference” toward migrants — a recurring theme of his papacy.
“I will go to Marseille, but not to France,” Francis said in August. “There is a problem that concerns me, which is the Mediterranean.” He added that “the exploitation of migrants is criminal.” “Let us not get used to considering shipwrecks as news stories and deaths at sea as numbers,” the pope said at a memorial for sailors and migrants lost at sea, in front of Notre-Dame de la Garde, a basilica with sweeping views of the Marseille harbor.
Still, hot on the heels of a state visit by King Charles III of Britain, who was headed to Bordeaux on Friday, Mr. Macron has seized the opportunity for a meeting with the pontiff. “They are names and surnames, they are faces and stories, they are broken lives and shattered dreams,” he added.
Isabelle de Gaulmyn, a top editor at La Croix, France’s leading Catholic newspaper, said that for Francis, “what is important is to discuss Mediterranean-related issues like migration and the environment.” Francis has long defended the plight of migrants trying to reach Europe from North and sub-Saharan Africa, and he was widely expected to make it a major theme of his trip to Marseille, which is not an official state visit to France.
Francis has championed the cause of migrants since the beginning of his papacy, lamenting indifference to their plight and repeatedly criticizing world leaders for failing to adequately address the issue of deadly Mediterranean crossings. Still, hot on the heels of a state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Britain, who visited Bordeaux on Friday, Mr. Macron has seized the opportunity to see the pontiff. They are scheduled to meet on Saturday before attending a giant Mass at Marseille’s soccer stadium.
He once took Syrian refugees with him on the papal plane, and his first official trip outside Rome, in 2013, was to Lampedusa, the Italian island that has become a gateway to Europe for many migrants and where a recent surge in arrivals has underscored the continent’s inability to agree on a common migration and asylum policy. “Politicians love to be seen with the pope,” Isabelle de Gaulmyn, a top editor at La Croix, France’s leading Catholic newspaper, said — especially Mr. Macron, a political disrupter who has long been fascinated by Francis’ willingness to shake things up in the church.
Migration, Francis told thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square last week, “represents a challenge that is not easy, as we also see from the news in recent days, but which must be faced together.” Meeting the pope, a moral authority on the issue of migration, “will also help him lean leftward a bit,” Ms. de Gaulmyn said of Mr. Macron, a centrist who often tilts right, including on the issue of migration.
Ms. de Gaulmyn said that “politicians love to be seen with the pope,” especially Mr. Macron, a political disrupter who has long been fascinated with Francis’ willingness to shake things up in the church. Francis once took Syrian refugees with him on the papal plane, and his first official trip outside Rome, in 2013, was to Lampedusa, the Italian island that has become a gateway to Europe for many migrants and where a recent surge in arrivals has underscored the continent’s inability to agree on a common migration and asylum policy.
Meeting the pope, a moral authority on the issue of migration, “will also help him lean leftward a bit,” Ms. de Gaulmyn said of Mr. Macron, a centrist whose original pitch to voters was that he transcended traditional political divisions but who often tilts right. Immigration has become a political flashpoint for European governments, especially those facing strong far-right parties.
After arriving in Marseille on Friday afternoon, Francis was expected to lead a prayer at the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica, which overlooks the city, followed by an interfaith moment of remembrance at a monument for sailors and migrants lost at sea. Gérald Darmanin, Mr. Macron’s interior minister, said this week that France would help manage the flow of migrants arriving in Lampedusa but would not take in any. He said France would welcome asylum seekers if they fit the right criteria but insisted many did not.
“We need to fight illegal immigration in Europe, in France and in Italy, and we aren’t going to stem a flow — which affects our integration abilities — by taking in more people,” Mr. Darmanin told TF1 television.
Since 2014, over 28,000 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe have been recorded dead or missing, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency. There have been nearly 180,000 sea arrivals in 2023 so far, according to the United Nations refugee agency.Since 2014, over 28,000 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe have been recorded dead or missing, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency. There have been nearly 180,000 sea arrivals in 2023 so far, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
François Thomas, the president of SOS Méditerranée, an aid group that operates a rescue vessel for shipwrecked migrants, said the number of deaths had increased in recent months, partly because more migrants attempt the crossings during clement summer weather, and partly because of external factors like the ongoing chaos in Libya, a government crackdown in Tunisia and an Italian law that limits the time rescue vessels can spend at sea. “Too many people fleeing conflict, poverty and environmental disasters in search of a better future find in the waves of the Mediterranean Sea the ultimate rejection,” Francis said on Friday.
Francis’ visit is important, Mr. Thomas said, because he is one of the few global leaders who has unequivocally defended the plight of migrants. “And so this beautiful sea has become a huge cemetery,” he added, as he held a minute of silence with Catholic officials, city representatives and an interfaith group of religious leaders.
In Marseille, Francis thanked aid groups that rescue shipwrecked migrants, calling government efforts to impede their missions “gestures of hate.”
François Thomas, the president of SOS Méditerranée, one of the aid groups present at the ceremony, said the number of deaths had increased in recent months, partly because more migrants attempt the crossings during clement summer weather, and partly because of external factors like the ongoing chaos in Libya, a government crackdown in Tunisia and an Italian law that limits the time rescue vessels can spend at sea.
Francis’ visit is important, Mr. Thomas said, because he is one of the few global leaders who has unequivocally defended migrants.
“He has always had a message of solidarity, of fraternity on this issue and on the Mediterranean tragedy,” he said. “We have to have the courage to say that we can’t let people drown at Europe’s doors.”“He has always had a message of solidarity, of fraternity on this issue and on the Mediterranean tragedy,” he said. “We have to have the courage to say that we can’t let people drown at Europe’s doors.”
But immigration has become a political flashpoint for European governments, especially those facing strong far-right parties. Marseille is a port city shaped by immigration from European countries like Armenia, Italy, and Spain, as well as from France’s former African colonies.
Gérald Darmanin, Mr. Macron’s interior minister, said this week that France would help manage the flow of migrants arriving in Lampedusa but would not take in any. He said many were from countries like Senegal and Gambia and had no legitimate claims to asylum. It is plagued by pockets of extreme poverty, strained social services and deadly violence related to drug trafficking, but it is also one of France’s most cosmopolitan cities, a predominantly working-class mix of ethnic and religious communities.
“We need to fight illegal immigration in Europe, in France and in Italy, and we aren’t going to stem a flow — which affects our integration abilities — by taking in more people,” Mr. Darmanin told TF1 television. But he also insisted that France would welcome asylum seekers if they fit the right criteria. On Saturday, Francis and Mr. Macron will attend the closing session of the gathering of bishops, known as the Mediterranean Meetings, before talking one-on-one.
Marseille is a port city shaped by immigration from European countries like Italy, Spain and Armenia as well as from France’s former African colonies. It is plagued by pockets of extreme poverty, strained social services and deadly violence related to drug trafficking, but it is also one of France’s most cosmopolitan cities, a predominantly working-class mix of ethnic and religious communities. They will then head to the Vélodrome, Marseille’s famed soccer stadium, where tens of thousands will celebrate Mass, with about 100,000 more expected outside.
On Saturday, Francis will meet with Mr. Macron before driving to the stadium, the Vélodrome, to celebrate Mass. About 100,000 people are expected to follow the ceremony on giant screens outside. It is not uncommon for French leaders to attend religious ceremonies such as funerals, but Mr. Macron will be the first French president to attend a papal Mass since 1980.
It is not uncommon for French leaders to attend religious ceremonies such as funerals, but Mr. Macron will be the first French president to attend a papal Mass since 1980, when Valéry Giscard d’Estaing attended one celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Paris.
France has a strong tradition of secularism, and Mr. Macron’s expected presence at the ceremony is ruffling some feathers — especially after a contentious decision to ban the full-length robe worn by some Muslim students in schools.France has a strong tradition of secularism, and Mr. Macron’s expected presence at the ceremony is ruffling some feathers — especially after a contentious decision to ban the full-length robe worn by some Muslim students in schools.
“No, Mr. President, it’s not your place to go to the Pope’s mass,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftist leader, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “The secular state neither recognizes nor subsidizes any religion.”“No, Mr. President, it’s not your place to go to the Pope’s mass,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftist leader, said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “The secular state neither recognizes nor subsidizes any religion.”
The French presidency pointed out that Mr. Macron had attended other religious events as president, like an iftar dinner organized by Muslim organizations. And he has insisted that he will not participate in the Mass. Mr. Macron’s office pointed out that he had attended other religious events as president, like an iftar dinner organized by Muslim organizations. And he has insisted that he will not participate in the Mass.
“I won’t go as a Catholic; I’ll go as the president of the French Republic,” Mr. Macron said last week, adding: “I’ll go out of courtesy and respect.”“I won’t go as a Catholic; I’ll go as the president of the French Republic,” Mr. Macron said last week, adding: “I’ll go out of courtesy and respect.”
Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.