2023-09-24 10:28:41
At his side throughout the day of Saturday September 23, in Marseille, Emmanuel Macron reserved honors for Pope Francis worthy of a state visit. He first welcomed him with his wife, Brigitte Macron, on the red carpet rolled out at the Palais du Pharo for the closing of the Mediterranean Meetings, devoted to the challenges of migration, ecology and poverty. Then he attended as ” president ” from a secular country to his mass, at the Vélodrome, temple of the Olympique de Marseille, before accompanying him to the airport for his departure to Rome.
However, Francis had specified several times that he was not coming to visit ” In France “more ” in Marseille “. He said it again with mischief at the end of his speech at the Pharo: “Once, Mr. President invited me to visit France, but he told me “you have to come to Marseille””. At the initiative of this trip, which took the Pope to the northern districts to the bedside of the poorest, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline also made the audience smile: “We have understood, very Holy Father, that you are not coming on a state visit”.
“A fair welcome” for migrants
The French president and the pope had a half-hour face-to-face meeting at the Pharo Palace, followed by an exchange of gifts. It was their fourth interview since Emmanuel Macron’s first election in 2017. Behind closed doors of their discussions “very free”according to the Élysée, the two men reviewed numerous international themes, such as Ukraine, Africa, the Middle East, the crises in Lebanon and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Argentina, country of origin of the pope.
But whatever the form of this historic two-day visit to Marseille, Pope Francis delivered a very strong political message on the fate reserved for migrants who cross the Mediterranean, and also die there. Sitting in the front row of the Pharo Palace auditorium, Emmanuel Macron listened – without speaking – to condemn “indifference” European officials. As he heard him repeat his hostility to any form of euthanasia. On these two subjects, the words of the sovereign pontiff hit two bills, on immigration and the end of life, still being arbitrated within the executive.
On migrants, the pope asked Europe to put in place “a fair welcome” and to guarantee “ a large number of legal and regular entries ». He also insistently defended a model “integration”as opposed to that of « l’assimilation »long promoted by France.
After his meeting with the President of the Republic, where the migration issue was raised, the Élysée assured that “France has nothing to be ashamed of what it does, it is a country of welcome and integration”et “she will take her share”. However, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, returning from Rome on September 19, had advocated firmness, affirming that France “will not welcome migrants”coming from Lampedusa.
“We don’t play with life!” »
Finally, Emmanuel Macron and the Pope discussed “briefly”the question of the end of life, while the bill in preparation should legalize under conditions “active assistance in dying”. “They didn’t have any substantive exchanges” et “did not go into the details and balance of the text”, specified the presidency. The Head of State mainly spoke about the method and timetable of the text that will be presented ” in the next weeks “indicated the Élysée.
The disagreement seems total with the Pope who affirmed for his part, on the plane which brought him back to Rome, that the subject of the end of life had not been on the agenda of the interview. “We don’t play with life!” We don’t play with life, neither at the beginning nor at the end”he declared on board, after denouncing on Saturday morning “the falsely dignified perspective of a sweet death, in reality saltier than the waters of the sea”. Guest of the 8 p.m. news on TF1 and France 2 on Sunday September 24, Emmanuel Macron will, this time, have the opportunity to respond.
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