the holy father given a standing ovation in the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille | EUROtoday
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Nearly 62,000 individuals warmly welcomed Pope Francis who toured the Vélodrome stadium aboard his popemobile on Saturday September 23.
By Nathan Joubioux for Le Point
© ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
Published on
LThe Vélodrome de Marseille won’t host, this Saturday, September 23, both the Olympique de Marseille or the French rugby workforce. But in this stadium with greater than 67,000 seats, there may be nonetheless an environment of nice evenings, on the event of the go to of Pope Francis, who will host a mass. The roughly 62,000 trustworthy current gave a welcome worthy of the biggest.
The sovereign pontiff first took a tour of the enclosure aboard his popemobile earlier than taking his place, reverse the south bend. The supporters of the South Winners, a group of extremely supporters of OM, first hoisted a big tifo bearing the picture of Pope Francis, earlier than presenting a second one, on which one might learn “Thank you”, in letters gold on a blue background.
READ ALSO Visit of the Pope: the Holy Father requires a “duty of civilization” “Hello Marseille, hello France,” he mentioned, to applause, earlier than starting his homily, in Italian, as regular. For a couple of minutes, no translation was accessible on the stadium’s big screens.
Little Émile’s household presents
In the stands are a few personalities, together with Emmanuel Macron, who took benefit of the alternative to take pleasure in a crowd bathtub and took half in the picture recreation.
Renaud Muselier, president of the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, who welcomed the arrival of Pope Francis, 5 centuries after his final go to to the Marseille metropolis, can be there. “The fact of having transformed this stadium into a real cathedral, it will be a great moment”, he congratulated himself, on RTL, earlier than coming to the protection of the president, criticized for his presence: “We can be secular in his public action and believe in God. »
Other personalities such as Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), or Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, are also present in the stands. The latter also applauded Pope Francis when the sovereign pontiff called to “welcome, protect and integrate” migrants, simply a few days after assuring that “France will not welcome migrants who come from Lampedusa”.READ ALSO Pope’s go to: “Migrants must be integrated” The very spiritual household of little Émile, who disappeared in July in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), additionally made the journey. A presence made attainable because of the assist of a “friend from Marseille, a fervent supporter of OM who spoke about us to the vicar general, Father Xavier Manzano”, defined the little boy’s grandparents, to Christian household. According to data from BFMTV, it could be Rachid Zeroual, the essential boss of the South Winners and the connection would have been made because of the latter’s spouse.
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/visite-du-pape-le-saint-pere-ovationne-dans-le-stade-velodrome-de-marseille-23-09-2023-2536593_23.php#xtor=RSS-221