2023-09-22 19:54:00
Photo: AFP.
Pope Francis demanded this Friday that people who shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea be saved as a “duty of humanity and civilization”, when paying tribute to migrants who died at sea, during the first of the two days of the visit that began to the city. French port of Marseille.
“People who, when abandoned on the waves, run the risk of drowning must be helped. It is a duty of humanity, it is a duty of civilization”stated the Pontiff, in what was read as strong support for non-governmental organizations such as OpenArms or Mediterránea SOS that are dedicated to saving survivors of shipwrecks in the waters of the Mare Nostrum, the name given by the Romans to the sea. that bathes the coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia.
“We cannot resign ourselves to seeing human beings treated as merchandise in exchange, imprisoned and tortured in an atrocious manner; we cannot continue witnessing the dramas of shipwrecks, caused by repugnant smuggling and by the fanaticism of indifference,” the Pope then delved into the second city of France surrounded by leaders of different religions.
“We cannot resign ourselves to seeing human beings treated as exchange merchandise, imprisoned and tortured in atrocious ways; we cannot continue witnessing the dramas of shipwrecks” Pope Francis
“Let us open the doors of churches and parish houses, but above all those of the heart, to show the face of Our Lord through our meekness, kindness and hospitality”said the pontiff when leading a prayer with the diocesan clergy in the Basilica Notre Dame de la Garde.
“May anyone who approaches them not find distances and judgments, but rather the testimony of a humble joy, more fruitful than any ostentatious capacity,” added the pontiff, addressing the local priests in a city that he defined before arriving as a “window” to the Mediterranean.
In his message to the religious, Francisco also wished “that the wounded of life find a safe harbor in his gaze, a breath in his embrace, a caress in his hands, capable of wiping away tears.”.
Photo: AFP
In recent years, frontline Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Italy demand a common European response for the distribution of people who arrive on the coasts of the continent.
In Italy, the 2018-2020 administration of the then Minister of the Interior, the ultranationalist Matteo Salvini, led a persecution of NGOs that rescued people on the high seas and promoted a policy of “closed ports”, contrary to the Pope’s claim.
A symbol of drowned people
He memorial from which Francis spoke, dedicated to “the heroes and victims of the sea”, was built in 1913 as a memorial to the sailors killed in the Mediterranean, but in light of the explosion of migratory waves it was converted into a symbol of the people drowned in recent years in search of reaching Europe.
The situation in Lampedusa is “cruelty”
During the flight to Marseille, Pope Francis remembered Latin Americans seeking to emigrate to the United States and described the current situation on the island of Lampedusa as “cruelty” due to the migratory overpopulation.
“I hope I have the courage to say everything I want,” the pontiff told journalists who accompanied him on the flight from Rome. “I think so,” he said when asked if he believed that this weekend’s trip will make history like the one he made in 2013 to Lampedusa, the island already then a symbol of migration.
In this framework, the Pope described as “a cruelty, a terrible lack of humanity” the situation in Lampedusawhere thousands of migrants arriving in recent weeks who cannot find a place in other European countries have gathered.
Due to the seriousness of the situation, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenvisited the island last week and promised a “common response” from the regional bloc, as requested by the Italian Government with the support of the Pope.
During the dialogue with the media that flew on the Ita plane, the Pope again denounced that Migrants are often “detained in the Libyan concentration camps and then thrown into the sea”by highlighting the situation in one of the countries from which the most people leave for Europe.
“People who, when abandoned on the waves, run the risk of drowning must be helped. It is a duty of humanity, it is a duty of civilization”Pope Francis
In addition, Francis referred to Latin American migrants seeking to cross into the United States and highlighted the figure of the bishop of El Paso, Mark Seitzwhom he described as “a genius” for his work.
“I remember a mass I said at a border in a Latin American country where there were so many shoes of people who had lost them trying to cross”the Pope said, in a possible reference to a celebration in Ciudad Juárez, opposite the United States, in 2016.
Details of the visit to Marseille
In the midst of the crossings between Italy and other countries due to the quotas of people welcomed, Jorge Bergoglio will ask the countries of Europe to have a “common responsibility” against the arrival of migrants via the Mediterranean. In addition, on his 44th trip outside Italy as pope, he will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday.
“It is necessary for Europe to find a consensus as soon as possible on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. All European countries must jointly assume responsibility for the situation in the Mediterranean”stated before the trip the “number two” of the Vatican, the Secretary of State Pietro Parolinwhen giving the main lines of the visit.
The Pope has considered this trip as “a visit to Marseille and not to France”, similar to the trip he made to Strasbourg in 2014 to speak at the European Parliament.
Francisco, who In July 2013 he made his first trip outside Rome as Pope to the Italian island of Lampesuda to make the immigration issue visible. Four months after being elected, he will seek to once again draw the attention of all of Europe to adopt unified and common measures against the rescue of people in the Mediterranean and their reception on the continent.
Photo: AFP
Last year, the pontiff had demanded that Europe “not leave alone” the four countries that receive the most people, Italy, Spain, Greece and Cyprus and that the quotas for distributing migrants are met. Francisco’s request is shared especially by Italy, which denounces that northern countries close their borders and they force it to manage all people arriving through the Mediterranean, especially in the case of France in the Ventimigila area and Austria in the Alpine Brenner region.
This week, the Vatican’s official news site appeared to back Italy’s position by reporting that “The landings in Lampedusa continue. France blocks the borders” in an article in which he regrets that “the Minister of the Interior of Paris, Gérald Darmanin, made it known that France has no intention of welcoming new immigrants from Lampedusa”, the island symbol of migration.
Although this weekend Francisco will not go to the capital Paris, he will will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Marseillewith whom he will have a private meeting on Saturday, the fourth bilateral meeting since the president took office in 2017.
Mediterranean Encounters
On Saturday, before the meeting with Macron, Francis will give the strongest speech of the four planned when he speaks at the “Mediterranean Meetings” in front of an audience made up of representatives of Catholics and other faiths.
Before traveling, the Pope described the “Mediterranean Meetings” in which he will participate on Saturday in Marseille together with bishops from the entire region as “a beautiful initiative that is developed in important Mediterranean cities, bringing together ecclesiastical and civil leaders to promote paths of peace, collaboration and integration around the mare nostrum, with special attention to the migratory phenomenon”.
Another of the topics that will be part of the papal speeches will be environmentsaid papal spokesperson Matteo Bruni, within the framework of the upcoming publication on October 4 of a new apostolic exhortation by Francis on the subject, following the 2015 encyclical ‘Laudato si’.
Jorge Bergoglio, 86, will return to Rome on Saturday, after saying goodbye to Marseille with a mass at the local Velodromein which Macron’s presence is also expected despite the criticism that the French president received from sectors that consider that his presence does not correspond with the secular spirit of the country.
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