2023-09-22 16:43:00
Source AFP Pope Francis arrived in Marseille for a two-day visit devoted in particular to migrants © AFP Published on 09/22/2023 at 4:43 p.m.
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Pope Francis, 86, arrived in Marseille on Friday afternoon for a two-day visit devoted in particular to the theme of migration and the Mediterranean, AFP noted.
The Argentine Jesuit’s plane landed shortly after 4:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT) at Marseille-Provence airport, in Marignane, where he was welcomed, in a wheelchair, by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
The head of government was notably accompanied by Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and Religious Affairs, the DVG mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, the LR president of the department and the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis, Martine Vassal, and the Renaissance president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, Renaud Muselier.
After a short interview with the head of government at the airport, the pope will immediately go to the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, on the heights of Marseille, where he will first participate in a Marian prayer, before pronouncing a tribute to shipwrecked migrants, in front of the stele erected at the foot of the “Good Mother” in memory of those who died at sea.
On Saturday, the Pope will deliver the closing speech of the Mediterranean Meetings, the third of the name, after Bari in 2020 and Florence in 2022.
Then he must meet the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron. In the afternoon, before leaving for Rome, he will take a stroll in a popemobile along Avenue du Prado then preside over a large mass at the Vélodrome stadium, where nearly 60,000 people are expected.
22/09/2023 17:00:49 – Marseille (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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