Emmanuel Macron was received on Monday by Pope Francis at the Vatican, for the third time since he became president, in a context of war in Ukraine and debate on the end of life in France. Accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, the French head of state was received at the Apostolic Palace, attached to St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome, in a 55-minute private audience. In images released by the Vatican, the two men appeared smiling, Emmanuel Macron as familiar with the sovereign pontiff as he had been in 2021.
They then engaged in the traditional exchange of gifts. The Pope presented the French president with a bronze medal depicting Saint Peter’s Square. Emmanuel Macron offered an edition of Perpetual Peace Treaty of Immanuel Kant dating from 1796. The correspondent of The cross at the Vatican delivered an illustration of the Elyos Gift on Twitter.
Brigitte Macron prays for the Pope “every day”
“Pray for me,” the Pope asked, greeting the Macron couple. “I pray for you every day,” replied Brigitte Macron.
At the end of this hand in hand, the 85-year-old Argentine pontiff exchanged for about fifteen minutes with the French delegation. This meeting was followed by an interview with the number two of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as well as with the Pope’s “minister” of Foreign Affairs, Monsignor Paul Gallagher. This is the third papal audience for him: the first in June 2018, while the second was less than a year ago, in November 2021.
President Macron has been in Rome since Sunday, where he delivered a speech at the opening of an interfaith peace summit organized by the Italian Catholic Sant’Egidio community. He called for peace in Ukraine, while emphasizing that this could only happen when the Ukrainians “decide” and according to the “terms” of Kyiv. On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis has not stopped condemning the conflict since February, while he tries to maintain a diplomatic dialogue with Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church, closely aligned with the positions of the Kremlin.
Emmanuel Macron calls on religions to “resist the drive for purity”
Emmanuel Macron also appealed to religions, in his speech on Sunday, to their “duty of resistance” against “the impulse of purity” and the return of the “great fears” that shake Western societies. According to Elysée, the interview should also focus on social debates in France, such as the reception of refugees and perhaps the end of life. The pope spoke out against euthanasia during a speech to French elected officials on Friday, as Paris prepares to launch a citizens’ convention on this sensitive issue to lead to a possible change in the law.
The French president also met secretly on Sunday night with the new Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, becoming the first foreign leader to come face to face with the leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, winner of the elections of September. elections in Italy. He is scheduled to see the Italian head of state, Sergio Mattarella, on Monday at a private lunch.
Source: BFM TV
