Pope Francisco This Friday afternoon he began a two-day visit to Marseillesin the southeast of France. Although it is a religious displacement, it has an obvious political charge: warn of the tragedy that migrants are experiencing in the Mediterranean, where nearly 30,000 people have drowned since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This defense of greater humanity in the treatment of those fleeing poverty and war is one of the hallmarks of the Argentine pontiff. But now it becomes more relevant in the midst of a new immigration controversy in Europe, due to the increase in arrivals on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
“People who, when abandoned on the waves, are at risk of drowning must be helped. It is a duty of humanity, it is a duty of civilization“asked Francis, with the blue of the Mediterranean Sea and the sunset in the background. After landing in the afternoon in France’s second city, the Pontiff paid tribute to the drowned migrants and refugees before a memorial near the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde.
“They are names and surnames, They are faces and stories, they are broken lives and shattered dreams.s (…) In the face of such a drama, words do not serve, but actions,” he added before religious leaders and members of migrant aid associations. Before, he had also participated in a religious ceremony in the emblematic cathedral in the Phoceanic city. The Pope will meet on Saturday morning with the French president, Emmanuel Macronand will also celebrate a mass mass in the afternoon at the Velodrome stadium.
A visit marked by migrants and multiculturalism
“I’m going to go to Marseille, I’m not going to go to France,” the Pope had already warned in August after his visit to Lisbon. With this second trip to French territory During his papacy—the first had taken place in 2014 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg—Francis wants to privilege the multicultural and maritime character of Marseille, a city of contrasts, but also of mixing and welcoming cultures and religions. Coincidentally, he has even gained more weight in his defense of dignified treatment of migrantss who face the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.
At the beginning of last week, more than 8,000 men and women, the vast majority of them from African countries, arrived clandestinely to the Italian island of Lampedusa, which has seen its reception capacity exceeded. In the face of this critical humanitarian situation, contrast Francis’ welcoming speech with the far-right Italian government’s border-closing rhetoric. Giorgia Melonibut also increasingly present in the French Executive.
Convergence between the Pope, NGOs and left-wing parties
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“France wants a firm position,” declared the Interior Minister on Tuesday, Gerald Darmanin, who stated that his country “will not welcome migrants” from Lampedusa. He also announced a reinforcement of the police checks on the Franco-Italian border, with an increase from 500 to 700 agents deployed.
Coinciding with the Pope’s visit, the NGO SOS Méditerrannee, based in Marseille and owner of the humanitarian ship ‘Ocean Viking’, has called for “dignity to be restored to the rescued men, women and children.” La Francia Insumisa (similar to Sumar) by Jean-Luc Melenchon It has also organized a rally “in solidarity with the victims of anti-migrant barbarism.” A curious alliance between NGOs, left-wing parties and Pope Francis to confront the right-wing treatment of migrants.