Pope Francis is challenging French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty
Pope Francis challenged French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to open their ports to people fleeing hardship and poverty, insisting Saturday that the continent does not face a migration “emergency” but rather a long-term reality that governments must deal with humanely.in the French port city of Marseille, Francis took aim at European countries that have tried to close their doors to migrants and tried to shame them into responding with charity instead.
Macron greeted Francis on a wind-swept promenade overlooking Marseille’s old port, and helped him walk into the Palais du Pharo. With his wife by his side, the French leader listened as a young Italian volunteer working in Greece and the bishop of Tirana, Albania, who fled to Italy during Albania’s communist rule, spoke of the welcomes they received in foreign countries.
Macron and Francis then held a private meeting on the sidelines of the Mediterranean bishops’ conference. The Vatican has stressed that Francis is not on an official state visit to France but rather a visit to Marseille, in keeping with his refusal to visit the European centers of global Catholicism before he visits smaller communities where the church is either a minority or facing difficult social situations.
, Nearly 7,000 migrants came ashore on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa within a day last week, briefly outnumbering the resident population.
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