A visit with a historical flavor that also raises criticism. The elected officials of the Reconquista, the National Rally and the Republicans are irritated by the arrival of Pope Francis in the city of Marseille this weekend. In the spotlight: the involvement of the religious dignitary on the fate of immigrants during his speech during a giant mass at the Vélodrome.
“I don’t agree with Pope Francis. I think he has nothing to do with politics and that he is doing too much,” criticized Marion Maréchal, head of the European list on BFMTV, last week.
“We think first of our own”
The former member of the National Rally is not the only one who is upset by this first official visit of the sovereign pontiff to France since his election in 2013.
“He gets too involved. It’s good to defend certain subjects and those who suffer, but we think first of our own. In France we talk to the French,” explains RN deputy José Gonzales.
The words of the religious dignitary who described the Mediterranean as an “open-air cemetery” make no sense, nor do his words about the 2,000 people who have crossed the Mediterranean basin since January and who have died – a open wound in our humanity” for Francisco.
Very far from Éric Zemmour, who called during the presidential campaign to build “a wall” on the borders of the European Union.
The Pope in Lampedusa “did not resolve anything”
Despite the political context of his travels, the Pope rarely hesitates to leave the woods. Last April, during a trip to Hungary, led by the very conservative Viktor Orban, he launched a call to “open the doors more and more” “to foreigners, to those who are different, to immigrants, to the poor.” .
However, the pontiff’s support for immigrants is not surprising. In 2013, on his first visit outside of Rome, the religious traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa. This land, just 150 kilometers from Tunisia, has faced an unprecedented influx of immigrants in recent days.
“He came with a message of love for Lampedusa but, in retrospect, that didn’t solve anything. I even think it might have encouraged some to come,” laments a right-wing deputy who, however, says “love the Pope, no matter what.” that says”.
It clearly remains complicated for right-wing elected officials who regularly show their faith in criticizing the Holy See. The head of the LR senators Bruno Retailleau spoke on Tuesday in France between a “Pope in his role” “with an ideal of life to give” and the sovereigntist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan who “said he was proud to come to France” on BFMTV .
“It is not the same enthusiasm as for John Paul II”
The same goes for Senator LR Valérie Boyer, who considers it “normal for the Pope to pray for those who suffer”, before qualifying her statements.
“I am excited to attend his visit as a fervent Catholic, but I think that many, including me, prefer John Paul II. There was not the same impulse, the same enthusiasm at his side,” judges this former close friend of François Fillon.
To explain this distancing, Vatican observers proposed several explanations, starting with the profile of Francis, who comes from Argentina.
“He is a Pope who focuses on the South, where Catholics are today. The concerns of Europeans interest him little. It is difficult to listen to those who say they want to defend them,” summarizes Bernard Lecomte, author of The secrets of the Vatican.
“Their role is humanitarian, nothing more”
The octogenarian has also preferred to tour Africa and Asia throughout his career rather than plowing Western lands. Before the European Parliament in 2014 he spoke of a European continent that looked like “a tired grandmother” and “sterile.”
Another feat of arms blocking the ranks of the right: Francis’ ecological ambition. Two years after his arrival at the Vatican, he published the encyclical Laudato si’, entirely dedicated to ecology and advocating degrowth in the service of the climate emergency.
“It is true that when he talks about the climate… His role is humanitarian, nothing more,” attacks RN deputy José Gonzales.
“The division of secularism” reactivated by Francis
If the unrest in the ranks of the extreme right goes far beyond the French borders – from Matteo Salvini, head of the Italian Northern League, who accused Francis of wanting “migratory chaos” to André Ventura, a figure of the extreme Portuguese right that judged that it was “destroying the foundations of the Church”, France has a very particular context with secularism.
In 1980, John Paul II considered France to be the “eldest daughter of the Church” during his first trip to France. Enough to irritate the socialists who then organized several demonstrations, recalling the 1905 law that separates churches from the State.
“We are in a country where the texts clearly regulate worship, but the issue arises with each visit. We always find this division, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right,” summarizes Samuel Lievin, editorial director of pilgrim magazine.
“An explosive mix” between liturgy and politics
The last explanation to understand this rejection of Francis by the right and the extreme right: that of the reading grids that mix the Bible and politics.
“We have, on the one hand, liturgical declarations always based on the Gospels and, on the other hand, political declarations from elected officials,” observes Samuel Pruvot, editor-in-chief of Christian family.
“It will be noted that the Pope never gives instructions in which the leaders look for solutions. Obviously, an explosive mixture is made, we do not talk about the same things,” continues this specialist of the papacy.
Source: BFM TV
