On the heights of Marseille, in the south of France, the sea stretches as far as the eye can see. The memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea is there, at the foot of Notre-Dame de la Garde. The memorial stone is surmounted by a large Camargue cross – combining the traditional cross and an anchor.
It was in this striking landscape that Pope Francis came to launch another powerful appeal on the first day of his trip to Marseille on September 22, in front of the sun-soaked Mediterranean Sea in which migrants still drown every day.
“Too many people, fleeing conflict, poverty and environmental disasters in their search for a better future, find in the waves of the Mediterranean Sea the ultimate rejection,” lamented Francis, whose white robe was blown by the Mistral wind. “
“We are at a crossroads,” he said, “On the one hand, there is fraternity (…) on the other, indifference, which bloodies the Mediterranean.” He emphasized, “It’s either the culture of humanity and fraternity, or the culture of indifference – every man for himself.” And so this beautiful sea has become a huge cemetery.”
In the midst of religious leaders from Marseille of all religions and denominations, the Pope forcefully denounced both the “cruel trafficking” and the “fanaticism of indifference” towards those trying to reach Europe. “People who are at risk of drowning when abandoned on the waves must be rescued,” he thundered after a moment of silent reflection, visibly moved.
In this speech, the Pope echoed the feelings expressed at the very beginning of his pontificate. It was as if he wanted to renew the call made in Lampedusa in the summer of 2013. On the small island of Sicily, the newly elected Pope had criticized the world’s indifference to migrants. But this appeal, renewed twice in another Greek refugee camp on Lesbos in 2016 and 2021, has never really been heard.