Young believers of various religions and representatives of churches from 30 countries want to place a “mosaic of hope” this week in the French port city of Marseille. Pope Francis concludes the days of the “Mediterranean Encounter” with a Holy Mass as part of a two-day pastoral visit.
Anne Preckel – Vatican City
Waiting together and experiencing fraternity: This sums up the objective of the “Les Rencontres Méditerranéennes” meeting days in Marseille (16 to 24 September 2023), which present a program of events: prayers and conversations, cultural events and solidarity events This This week saw the participation of faithful from different denominations and religions, associations and companies, homeless people and migrants, locals and tourists – and on Friday and Saturday also Pope Francis, who traveled to the city as part of a two-day pastoral Visit.
Mosaic of hope
The Mediterranean region is a mosaic of cultures, peoples and religions – in Marseille this becomes a message: under the motto “Mediterranean: Mosaic of Hope”, the participants of the “Rencontres Méditerranéennes” want to send a common signal of the European Union in vision of the trends of alienation and hardening of fraternity and solidarity in Europe, which receives an exclamation point with Francis’ visit. The Pope, who visited refugees in Lampedusa in 2013 as his first official act, will probably appeal once again to care for people on the edge of Europe in Marseille – at a time when, instead of welcome, nationalism, instead of solidarity, the calculations are gaining the upper hand and people continue to gain the upper hand, literally sinking – like a child in front of Lampedusa today.
On Friday afternoon, his first day of the trip, Francis will participate in a Marian prayer at the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica and an interfaith memorial for drowned sailors and migrants. On Saturday he will participate in the final meeting of the meeting days in Marseille and will close the festival in the afternoon with a holy mass before returning to the Vatican. Vatican Radio broadcasts these programs live and with commentary in German via our homepage, Facebook and YouTube. Here is an overview of all times and programs.
The cold of the world…
“We need protection from everything that dehumanizes us, everything that prevents us from loving God and our brothers and sisters.”
Father Olivier Spinosa is rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, where on Friday the Marian prayer for sailors and migrants who died at sea will take place with the Pope. The rector sees a main purpose in prayer to the Mother of God today:
“We need protection from everything that dehumanizes us, everything that prevents us from loving God and our brothers and sisters. Protecting does not mean that nothing happens to us, but rather that we are protected, protected and strengthened in our faith in the midst of crises,” said the Marseille priest. “With the utmost congruence, this is exactly what the Successor of Peter comes to do: strengthen us in faith and in the desire to be attentive to every human being.”
…contrary to the smile of fraternity
Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille, sees the meetings in Marseille and the Pope’s visit as a clear mission for all believers:
“Let us place ourselves at the service of everyone so that, in the fissures that today tear the Mediterranean and that affect so many people, poor, disadvantaged or migrants, we can help the smiles of fraternity to flourish in the cold of the world”, said the cardinal at the end of last week in a sermon before the start of the “Rencontres Méditerranéennes”. The local church prepared a prayer novena in the previous days.
With material by Delphine Allaire – Vatican News, currently in Marseille
(Vatican news – pr)