Pope Francis’s Visit to Marseille, September 22 and 23, 2023

“Theology, particularly in the Mediterranean context, is called to be a theology of welcome and dialogue,” Francis explained in Naples, June 21, 2019. It is a message inspired by the geography, history, and cultures of the Mediterranean rim. This is the mission given to the Institute of Sciences and Theology of Religions (ISTR), born within the Catholic Institute of the Mediterranean, in Marseille. 

Upon his arrival in Marseille, Friday, September 22, the Sovereign Pontiff went to the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde to meet the diocesan clergy, comprised of nearly 200 priests, deacons, seminarians, and consecrated persons.

After having entrusted to Notre-Dame de la Garde “the fruits of the Mediterranean Meetings,” he underlined how this “the Good Mother brings about for all people a very tender ‘intersection of gazes’: the first is that of Jesus, to whom Mary always directs our attention… the other gaze is that of countless men and women of all ages and conditions. She gathers them all together and brings them to God.”

“Marseille is a veritable meeting point of peoples,” according to the Pope. He also expressed “the Marian dimension of our [the priestly] ministry.” In the first case, it is “to help people sense the gaze of Jesus and, at the same time, to bring the gaze of our brothers and sisters to Jesus. . . In the former, we are bearers of mercy, in the latter, intercessors.”

“It is marvelous to generously dispense his forgiveness, that is, to always, always, loosen the chains of sin through grace and free people from those obstacles, regrets, grudges and fears against which they cannot prevail alone,” in order to transmit, in the name of God, unexpected hopes for His consoling presence, healing compassion, and moving tenderness…be close to all, especially the frail and less fortunate, and never let those who suffer lack your attentive and discreet closeness.” 

And he concluded: “We too, dear brothers and sisters, become a living Gospel to the extent that we go out of ourselves to share it, reflecting its light and beauty with a humble, joyful life, rich in apostolic zeal. May the many missionaries who set out from this lofty place to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world be a source of encouragement to us.”

The Pope then reached the adjacent square, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, in a wheelchair. In front of the sculpture erected in 2008 in memory of those lost at sea, a heart-shaped anchor topped with a cross, he made a reflection, surrounded by representatives of different religions.

In the introduction, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille, denounced the crimes committed in the Mediterranean where “men, women, and children” are “stripped of their property by dishonest smugglers, who sentence them to death by making them board decrepit and dangerous boats.”

Francis then urged people to be “exemplary in mutual and fraternal welcome,” a core subject of his pontificate. “We are gathered in memory of those who did not make it, who were not saved.… this beautiful sea has become a huge cemetery, where many brothers and sisters are deprived even of the right to a grave. Being buried at sea is the only dignity given them,” he stated.

“Indifference becomes fanatical. People who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued. It is a duty of humanity; it is a duty of civilization!”

He wanted to thank the associations alongside him for their commitment to solidarity: “Marseille is a model of integration. It is good that you have here, along with various groups that work with migrants, Marseille-Espérance, an organization of interreligious dialogue that promotes fraternity and peaceful coexistence.” And he invites them to continue their effort without being discouraged, “so that this city may be for France, Europe and the world a mosaic of hope.”

In conclusion, Pope Francis cited the words of David Sassoli [MEP of the Italian Democratic Party, died in 2022] in Bari, February 22, 2020: “Today we all feel, believers and non-believers alike, the need to rebuild that house to continue together to fight idols, tear down walls, build bridges, and to give substance to a new humanism.”

On September 23, the Sovereign Pontiff went to the Mediterranean Meetings at the Palais du Pharo in Marseille, after Bari in February 2020 and Florence in February 2022. He delivered the concluding speech to the bishops from around the Mediterranean gathered in Marseille to reflect on the challenges of the mare nostrum [our sea], with 70 young people aged 25 to 35, from 25 countries bordering the Mediterranean.

In the front row, the President of the Republic of France, Emmanuel Macron listened to the long presentation delivered in Italian. From the Phoenician city, “capital of integrating peoples,”

Francis proposed a plan to return the Mediterranean to being “a laboratory of peace,. . . a place where different countries and realities can encounter each other on the basis of the humanity we all share.”

Then he mentioned the situation of “young people left to themselves, who are easy prey for crime and prostitution”; “unborn children, rejected in the name of a false right to progress”; and “isolated elderly brothers and sister who, instead of being appreciated, are pushed aside, under the false pretenses of a supposedly dignified and ‘sweet’ death that is more ‘salty’ than the waters of the sea.” His speech also mentioned the plight of migrants. “Migrants must be welcomed, protected or accompanied, promoted, and integrated.”

Indeed, he stressed, “those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome.” He did not hesitate to declare that the migratory phenomenon is not a “short-term urgency, always good for fueling alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our times.”

He then pointed out that in the North reigned “affluence, consumerism and waste” and in the South “poverty and instability.” Therefore, it is a question of governing this state of affairs with “wise foresight, including a European response capable of coping with the objective difficulties.”

The Pope took care to recall that his predecessors had also launched appeals in favor of welcome and the duty of solidarity. “The Church has been speaking about it in heartfelt terms for more than 50 years,” he said, invoking Pius XII and Paul VI. Recognizing the difficulties involved in offering welcome, Francis nevertheless clarified that “the principal criterion cannot be the preservation of one’s own well-being, but rather the safeguarding of human dignity.”

Speaking about the conditions of the integration of people, he opposed a “sterile form of assimilation”: “An assimilation that does not take into account differences and remains rigidly fixed in its own paradigms only makes ideas prevail over reality and jeopardizes the future, increasing distances and provoking ghettoization, which in turn sparks hostility and forms of intolerance.”

Francis continued, “It is right, then, that Christians should be second to none in charity; and that the Gospel of charity be the magna carta of all pastoral work. We are not called to grieve over times past, or to redefine the Church’s role in society; we are called to bear witness.” “May the Church not be a customs house. Let us remember what the Lord has told us: everyone, everyone, everyone is invited,” he went on to state. Finally, Pope Francis stressed that among the 35,000 students present in Marseille, 5,000 are foreigners.

And he immediately warned: “Be aware of the preaching of so many fundamentalisms that are fashionable today! Young people, well prepared and used socializing will be able to open unexpected doors of dialogue. . . by ‘mixing’ with others, they can surmount barriers, overcome preconceptions, and develop their own identity in a context of mutual enrichment.”

Before celebrating mass at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, in front of more than 50,000 faithful, Francis arrived triggering jubilation in the stands animated by a giant ola. “Bonjour Marseille, bonjour France!”, he exclaimed, opening the celebration in French, with the exception of the homily delivered in Italian.

During this Mass, attended by President Emmanuel Macron, Francis denounced the “tragic discarding of human life, which is seen today in the rejection of many immigrants, of countless unborn children and abandoned elderly people,” while the French government is preparing to vote on a law concerning the end of life.

In passing, he took a swipe at “a cold, flat heart [that] drags life along mechanically, without passion, without impetus, without desire.” The Pope, surrounded by French bishops, declared: “Today, too, our life and the life of the Church, France and Europe need this: the grace of a leap forward, a new leap in faith, charity and hope.”

To “leap,” he explained during his meditation, is to want to be “Christians who leap, pulsate, receive the fire of the Holy Spirit and then allow ourselves to be set afire by the questions of our day, by the challenges of the Mediterranean, by the cry of the poor -- and by the ‘holy utopias’ of fraternity and peace that wait to be realized.” 

At the conclusion of his press conference, Pope Francis clarified: “Marseille is a culture of encounter. As we saw yesterday in the meeting with the representatives of different religions – they live together: Muslims, Jews, Christians, but there is coexistence; it is a culture of assistance.”

“Marseille is a creative mosaic, it is this culture of creativity. A port that is a message in Europe. Marseille is welcoming. It welcomes, respects and creates a synthesis without denying the identity of peoples. We have to rethink this issue for other places; the capacity to do all this.”