2023-09-21 14:28:16
In Marseille, the municipal majorities are passing, but not the passion for the Vatican and the men of the Church. With the arrival of François, on September 22 and 23, the ex-socialist Benoît Payan (various left), mayor since December 2020, will realize the dream of his predecessor, Jean-Claude Gaudin (Les Républicains), who, for twenty -five years in office, tried in vain to obtain such a visit for his city. Charitable, the new mayor invited the old one – whom he calls regularly – to follow the Holy Father as closely as possible, in his own car.
Mr. Gaudin, 83 years old, struggles to walk (but “the head works very well”, he said) and declined the trip to the airport to welcome the Pope; but he will join the convoy at the next stage, Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde. He and Benoît Payan will then follow the entire papal visit together. « That makes me very happyconfides, moved, Mr. Gaudin, who left his villa in Saint-Zacharie, in the Var, to experience the event. It’s a gesture that touches me. » He recalls that the last trip of a serving pope to Marseille dates from 1533. Clement VII came to attend the marriage of his niece Catherine de Medici to the future king of France Henri II: “God knows if we wrote letters to the Vatican to bring in another one…”
Officially, Jean-Claude Gaudin’s invitation had been launched under the Marseille Espérance association, an ecumenical structure which brings together the various religious leaders of the city, and of which he remained a member. But Benoît Payan knows the passion and the fine knowledge of the mysteries of the Vatican and the twists and turns of the curia of his predecessor. The former vice-president of the Senate, who until 2019 counted among his close friends Cardinal Etchegaray, long-time archbishop of Marseille, and remains linked to the former spokesperson for the Conference of Bishops of France, Jean- Michel Di Falco continues to receive many men of the Church at his table. He maintains good relations with Cardinal Aveline, current archbishop pampered by the pope, of whom he praises “the wonderful activity”.
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Although forty years his junior, Benoît Payan – who calls himself “shaped by the reading of the Gospels” but refuses to express himself about his faith – shares the same passion as Mr. Gaudin. Since December 2020, he has not missed a blessing of shuttles, these small traditional orange blossom cakes, on Candlemas, and shows up at the mass of the aldermen’s vow, in the Cathedral of the Major. In June, he took his place alongside the man who held the city for a quarter of a century. He, like his predecessor, went to the Vatican, accompanied Jean-Marc Aveline to Florence, during the previous Mediterranean Meetings, to convince the Italian bishops to organize their future session in Marseille. He wrote a letter – “handwritten”he specifies – to invite Francis to his city and followed, week after week, the steps taken by the cardinal to obtain the papal agreement.
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