Three months before the event, the diocese of the Phocaean city has already received more than 60,000 requests from believers wishing to go to Mass. Will the head of state, guarantor of respect for secularism, attend the Mass that Francis will celebrate at the Velodrome stadium or will he prefer to greet the pope in a small committee? "For the moment, the Elysee has not confirmed," said a close friend of the archbishop of Marseille, Jean-Marc Aveline.
The first major public mass ever celebrated in France by the pontiff will take place at 16:45 p.m.