Marseilles, France - September 2023 - On 23 September Pope Francis concluded the "Rencontres Méditerranéennes" in Marseilles and before bishops, politicians, young people and French President Emmanuel Macron he became the voice of the "stifled cry" of so many migrants. During his long and substantial speech, Pope Francis called, among other things, for the migration phenomenon to be regulated with European responsibility. The Pontiff delivered a targeted message in these days of uncontrolled landings, and these years of continuous shipwrecks: "The solution to the terrible scourge of the exploitation of human beings is not to refuse, but to ensure, according to the possibilities of each person, a large number of legal and regular entries, sustainable thanks to a fair reception by the European continent, in the context of cooperation with the countries of origin." Commenting on the closure of several Mediterranean ports, Pope Francis said: "Those who risk their lives at sea are not invading, they are seeking a welcome, they are seeking life. As far as the emergency is concerned, the migratory phenomenon is not so much a momentary urgency, which is always good for spreading alarmist propaganda, but a fact of our time, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be managed with wise foresight: with a European responsibility capable of facing the objective difficulties."

Fonte: Vatican News