In the midst of the migration crisis that is shaking Europe, Pope Francis went this Saturday to Marseille, a Mediterranean port with experience in receiving foreigners, to continue trying to draw attention to the need to welcome migrants and refugees, the same message which he has repeated throughout his pontificate. “He who risks his life at sea does not invade, he seeks shelter,” he stressed, insisting that the migratory phenomenon is not an emergency, but “a reality of our time”, so European nations should manage it as such.
Welcomed by President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte at the Palais Du Pharo, the Pontiff took part in the Mediterranean Meetings, an initiative of the Catholic Church in which he launched another call for solidarity to European countries. His voice has sounded firm in front of several authorities such as the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, or the vice president of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas, a few days after the EU presented its umpteenth plan of migration after the last crisis experienced in Lampedusa, where 10,000 migrants arrived in just three days.
With a harsh but coherent speech with what has been his message from the Vatican in recent years, the Pope said that “there is a cry of pain that is the loudest of all, and that is turning the mare nostrum into mare mortuum “, the Mediterranean from the cradle of civilization to the tomb of dignity.” So far this year, more than 2,300 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, according to figures from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. One of the last was a newborn who died on board the boat in which his mother gave birth trying to reach Lampedusa last week.
“Marseille has a great port and it is a great door that cannot be closed. Several Mediterranean ports, however, have been closed – the Pope continued -. And two words have resonated, fueling people’s fears: “invasion” and “emergency.” But those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they seek shelter. Regarding the emergency, the migratory phenomenon is not so much a momentary emergency, always opportune to stir up alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our time, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise clairvoyance. : with a European responsibility capable of facing objective difficulties.”
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has declared a state of emergency due to the continued arrival of migrants. So far this year, more than 132,000 people have arrived in the country, almost double the more than 69,000 who arrived the previous year in the same period. Faced with this, the Executive has decided to act with a heavy hand and order the opening of more detention and repatriation centers throughout the country, in addition to extending the period in which they can be detained up to 18 months. Meloni has also asked Europe to carry out a naval mission to discourage departures from North Africa. France has also spoken out: Minister Darmanin assured that they would not welcome those who arrived in Lampedusa.
After the speech, Francis met for half an hour with Macron, whose government must soon present a new law on immigration. The president, who is agnostic, will also participate despite some criticism in the massive mass that will be celebrated this afternoon at the Olympique stadium in Marseille, and which will close the trip. Francis, who continues to reject making major apostolic trips to bastions of Catholicism such as France or Spain, has insisted that it was a trip to Marseille for this religious meeting.
