Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, stressing on Saturday that the continent was not facing a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must address humane.
For the second day in a row in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have used “alarmist propaganda” to justify closing their doors to migrants and tried to shame them into responding with charity.
He called for migrants to have a legal path to citizenship, and for the Mediterranean Sea that so many cross to reach Europe to be a beacon of hope, not a graveyard of despair.
The Mediterranean, Francis told Macron and a gathering of regional bishops, “calls for justice, with its shores that on the one hand radiate luxury, consumerism, and waste, while on the other there is poverty and instability.”
The pope’s visit to the southern French city, which drew about 150,000 well-wishers Saturday, comes as Italy’s far-right government responded to a new wave of migrant arrivals by threatening to impose a naval blockade of Tunisia and increase repatriations.
The French government, for its part, has stepped up patrols at its southern border to prevent migrants in Italy from crossing.
Pope Francis is welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron as he arrives at the final session of the “Rencontres Mediterraneennes” meeting at the Palais du Pharo.AP
After the bishops’ meeting ended, Macron and Francis held a private meeting for half an hour. They talked about the issue of migration and several other topics, the French president said, adding that the two leaders shared a “common will” to bring a human solution to the situation.
France is a “host country” to migrants – especially to asylum seekers – and supports European solidarity policies, including through funding and the fight against human trafficking, the French presidency said. The Vatican did not provide a reading of the meeting.
Macron’s centrist government has taken tougher measures on migration and security issues after drawing criticism from French conservatives and the far-right. With elections for the European Union parliament set for next year, Macron urged the EU to strengthen its external borders and become more efficient in deporting individuals denied entry.
People await the arrival of Pope Francis at the “Stadium Velodrome”, in Marseille, France, to celebrate mass, on Saturday, September 23, 2023. AP
Macron greeted Francis on the windswept promenade overlooking Marseille’s old port and helped him walk to the Palais du Pharo for a meeting of Mediterranean bishops.
With his wife by his side, the French leader listened as a young Italian volunteer working in Greece and the bishop of Tirana, Albania, who fled to Italy during Albania’s communist rule, spoke about the welcome they received in foreign countries.
“May we allow ourselves to be moved by the stories of our poor brothers and sisters who have the right to migrate and not migrate, and not become closed in indifference,” Francis said. “In the face of the terrible scourge of human exploitation, the solution is not to reject but to ensure, according to each possibility, a sufficient number of legal and permanent entrances.”
Francis’ two-day trip was scheduled months ago, but it is happening as mass migration to Europe is once again making headlines. Nearly 7,000 migrants who boarded smugglers’ boats in Tunisia landed on the small Italian island of Lampedusa in one day last week, briefly outnumbering the population.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis meet at the Palais du Pharo.AP
However, Francis said talk of a migration “emergency” only fueled “alarmist propaganda” and stoked public fear.
“Those who risk their lives at sea are not trespassing, they are looking for celebration, for life,” he said. “As for the emergency, the phenomenon of migration is not a matter of short-term urgency, always good to fuel alarmist propaganda, but the reality of our times.”
In addition to Macron, the pope’s audience on Saturday included European Commission Vice President Margarítis Schinás, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who said France would not accept new migrants from Lampedusa.
French president and first lady Brigitte Macron later attended Francis’ final Mass at Marseille’s Velodrome which drew about 50,000 people and featured a giant banner of the pope raised in the stands.
The Vatican, citing local organizers, said another 100,000 lined the center of Marseilles’ Avenue du Prado to cheer as the pope’s carriage passed.
Francis, during a two-day visit, will join Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean region in discussions that will largely focus on migration.AP
The first Latin American pope in history has made the plight of migrants a priority of his 10-year pontificate. For his first trip as pope, he traveled to Lampedusa to honor migrants who had drowned trying to cross the sea.
Since then, he has celebrated Mass on the US-Mexico border, met with Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees and, in a clear display of his commitment, brought home 12 Syrian Muslims on his plane after visiting a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece.
Migrants and their advocates living in Marseille, which has a long tradition of multicultural hospitality, said Francis’ call for charity and a path to citizenship gave them hope that at least someone in Europe was sympathetic to their plight.
French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and his wife Brigitte, left, listen to Pope Francis during his speech at the final session of the “Rencontres Mediterraneennes” meeting.AP
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for us,” said Francky Domingo, who is part of a Marseille-based association representing migrants seeking official identification documents. “We really want the pope to be our spokesperson to the politicians because the European policy on migration is very, very oppressive for us immigrants.”
Stephanie Tomasini, a 48-year-old Marseille resident who attended the mass, said the pope was sending an important message. “We must be able to … reach out and share, we should all do that. Today, we are not facing difficulties, but we may face them tomorrow, and we want someone to open the door for us,” he said.
Many faithful came from all over France to see the pope, who last visited the country almost a decade ago. Catherine Etienne, from Brest in western France, watched Francis’ procession with joy. “We are very happy to see the Pope. We are very moved,” he said.
Pope Francis kisses a baby as he arrives at the “Stadium Velodrome”, in Marseille, France.AP
In his speech, Francis also reiterated his opposition to euthanasia, which he has long denounced as a symptom of a “throwaway culture” that treats the elderly and infirm as dispensable.
Listing euthanasia as a “social evil,” he criticized supporters of assisted suicide as giving “false claims of a supposedly dignified and ‘sweet’ death that is more ‘salty’ than sea water.”
The issue is current in France, where Macron is expected in the coming weeks to unveil a bill that will legalize end-of-life options in France. French media reported that he delayed presenting the measure until after the pope’s visit to avoid sensitive topics from interfering.
No details of the government’s proposal have been released, but several options are being considered, including legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia for adult patients with incurable conditions under strict conditions that guarantee their free and informed consent.
The French president said Francis and Macron discussed the issue during their bilateral meeting but did not go into details.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
