In Marseille, Pope Francis celebrates a giant mass | EUROtoday

Published on : 09/23/2023 – 5:46 p.m.

2 minutes

“Hello Marseille, hello France!” : it was with these phrases, in French, that Pope Francis opened the giant mass, Saturday September 23, on the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, in entrance of a number of tens of 1000’s of individuals, together with the top of state, Emmanuel Macron.

The Pope arrived on the stadium round 4 p.m., after having gone up the Avenue du Prado in a popemobile below a vibrant solar, greeted by the group waving French, Marseille or Vatican flags, whereas chants of “Long live the Pope, welcome to Marseille!”

After having toured the garden, nonetheless in his popemobile, Francis, who will ship the homily, took his place on the huge stage put in within the north bend, adorned with a statue of the Virgin and dominated by a cross of eight meters excessive.

Upon his arrival, a gigantic “tifo” was deployed by OM supporters, representing the bust of the sovereign pontiff subsequent to the “Good Mother”, the Notre-Dame-de-La-Garde Basilica. Behind this banner, unfurled from the roof of the south flip, the 1000’s of spectators wearing chasubles first drew a blue cross on a white background, the flag of Marseille, earlier than inscribing a large “Thank you” in yellow letters composed from golden leaves.

The presence of Emmanuel Macron, criticized

Before the beginning of the service, a number of artists had paraded on stage: the Christian pop-praise group Glorious, the comic Gad Elmaleh, the singer Grégoire… whereas the olas adopted each other within the stands.

Among the distinguished friends, the president of the ECB Christine Lagarde, the LR boss of the Paca area Renaud Muselier, the LR president of the division Martine Vassal.

The presence of Emmanuel Macron was criticized by left-wing elected officers within the title of respect for secularism, whereas sure far-right elected officers most popular to boycott this mass due to the Pope’s speech on migrants.

For this giant mass, the place practically 60,000 individuals invaded the stands, an “extraordinary” safety system was deployed, mobilizing 6,000 members of the police and a thousand non-public safety brokers.

In the group, Christians of various faiths are current but additionally a few Muslims, and plenty of households and younger individuals.

“It’s an honor to come, I find that it’s important today in a multicultural and multicultural community to be able to reach out to your brothers without necessarily only being Catholic,” Cécile Pivert, 57, defined to AFP , coming from Salon de Provence.

“It’s exceptional, we’ve been talking about it with young people for a year,” stated Sandrine Di Maccio, very moved, who got here from Aubagne with round fifty Guides de France scouts aged 6 to 18.

With AFP