Pope Francis will journey to southern France on Friday for a two-day go to within the port metropolis of Marseille, the place he’s anticipated to satisfy with President Emmanuel Macron and defend the plight of migrants making an attempt dangerous Mediterranean crossings to Europe.

Francis will attend the closing session of the Mediterranean Meetings, a weeklong gathering of about 70 bishops, youth activists and representatives of different religions from across the Mediterranean Sea, and he has confused repeatedly that his journey will not be an official state go to.

“I will go to Marseille, but not to France,” Francis said in August. “There is a problem that concerns me, which is the Mediterranean.” He added that “the exploitation of migrants is criminal.”

Still, scorching on the heels of a state visit by King Charles III of Britain, who was headed to Bordeaux on Friday, Mr. Macron has seized the chance for a gathering with the pontiff.

Migration, Francis told 1000’s of devoted gathered in St. Peter’s Square final week, “represents a challenge that is not easy, as we also see from the news in recent days, but which must be faced together.”

Ms. de Gaulmyn mentioned that “politicians love to be seen with the pope,” particularly Mr. Macron, a political disrupter who has lengthy been fascinated with Francis’ willingness to shake things up within the church.

Meeting the pope, an ethical authority on the difficulty of migration, “will also help him lean leftward a bit,” Ms. de Gaulmyn mentioned of Mr. Macron, a centrist whose unique pitch to voters was that he transcended conventional political divisions however who usually tilts proper.

Shortly after his arrival in Marseille on Friday afternoon, Francis is predicted to go to the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica, which overlooks the town. He will lead a prayer there, adopted by an interfaith second of remembrance at a monument for sailors and migrants misplaced at sea.

Since 2014, over 28,000 migrants making an attempt to cross the Mediterranean to achieve Europe have been recorded useless or lacking, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations company. There have been practically 180,000 sea arrivals in 2023 to date, according to the United Nations refugee company.

Francis’ go to is necessary, Mr. Thomas mentioned, as a result of he is without doubt one of the few world leaders who has unequivocally defended the plight of migrants.

“He has always had a message of solidarity, of fraternity on this issue and on the Mediterranean tragedy,” he mentioned. “We have to have the courage to say that we can’t let people drown at Europe’s doors.”

But immigration has turn into a political flashpoint for European governments, particularly these dealing with sturdy far-right events.

Gérald Darmanin, Mr. Macron’s inside minister, mentioned this week that France would assist handle the move of migrants arriving in Lampedusa however wouldn’t absorb any. He mentioned many have been from nations like Senegal and Gambia and had no reliable claims to asylum.

“We need to fight illegal immigration in Europe, in France and in Italy, and we aren’t going to stem a flow — which affects our integration abilities — by taking in more people,” Mr. Darmanin told TF1 television. But he additionally insisted that France would welcome asylum seekers in the event that they match the precise standards.

Marseille is a port metropolis formed by immigration from European nations like Italy, Spain and Armenia in addition to from France’s former African colonies. It is stricken by pockets of utmost poverty, strained social companies and deadly violence related to drug trafficking, however it’s also certainly one of France’s most cosmopolitan cities, a predominantly working-class mixture of ethnic and non secular communities.

On Saturday, Francis will meet with Mr. Macron earlier than driving to the stadium, the Vélodrome, to have fun Mass. About 100,000 persons are anticipated to comply with the ceremony on big screens exterior.

It will not be unusual for French leaders to attend spiritual ceremonies equivalent to funerals, however Mr. Macron would be the first French president to attend a papal Mass since 1980, when Valéry Giscard d’Estaing attended one celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Paris.

France has a powerful custom of secularism, and Mr. Macron’s anticipated presence on the ceremony is ruffling some feathers — particularly after a contentious decision to ban the full-length gown worn by some Muslim college students in colleges.

“No, Mr. President, it’s not your place to go to the Pope’s mass,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leftist chief, said on X, the social media platform previously often known as Twitter. “The secular state neither recognizes nor subsidizes any religion.”

The French presidency identified that Mr. Macron had attended different spiritual occasions as president, like an iftar dinner organized by Muslim organizations. And he has insisted that he is not going to take part within the Mass.

“I won’t go as a Catholic; I’ll go as the president of the French Republic,” Mr. Macron mentioned final week, including: “I’ll go out of courtesy and respect.”

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.