Pope Francis in Marseille: in the midst of a migration crisis, a very political visit

Special Envoy to Marseille

Francis is expected this Friday in Marseille for what appears to be a "true-false" visit by the pope in France. This round trip to Provence - but "not in France", Francis insisted so much - will be the most atypical of the forty-four trips of his pontificate. For no other nation has the pope engaged in such a contortion in order to justify the fact that he passes through a French metropolis without coming "to France".

Yet he visited fifty-nine countries... Ours, where he is going for the second time after his express visit of the European Parliament to Strasbourg in November 2014, is not included in his official state visits. His whirlwind trip to Alsace was a round trip of less than eight hours watch in hand: Left in the early morning, Francis was already in Rome in the early afternoon after having lunch... on the plane.

See alsoBishop Aveline, the cardinal who convinced the pope to come to Marseille

The day before his departure to Marseille, an internal source, of long experience and very informed behind the scenes of the Vatican, affirms...

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