00:00 Why is the Pope in Marseilles and not in Paris or Lille or Lyon?
00:04 This is not a state visit, Delano.
00:10 The Pope has clearly said he said it back in August.
00:12 He is in Marseilles and not in France.
00:16 And he's here because tomorrow will be the closing ceremony
00:19 of a week's worth of meetings, Mediterranean meetings, they're called,
00:23 whereby bishops, 70 bishops from across the Mediterranean region,
00:27 as well as young people, people from civil society groups,
00:30 goodwill actors and businesses, they they're here in Marseilles
00:34 dialoguing, talking about how to improve links
00:38 between different cultures and peoples in the Mediterranean.
00:43 Of course, the Pope's message is compassion and tolerance towards migrants.
00:49 That really is why he's here in Marseilles.
00:52 He's not in Paris, he's not in Lille, he's not in Lyon.
00:54 He's here in Marseilles for that reason.
00:56 And what's on the agenda over the next two days, Claire?
00:59 Well, the Pope will first be heading to the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica.
01:06 Now, this really is the monument of Marseilles.
01:08 It's on a rocky outcrop in the city.
01:11 It overlooks the city.
01:12 And we've had this Madonna with the child gold leaf statue,
01:15 which really is seen as the protector of the city of Marseilles.
01:19 He'll be going there and right there, actually on the site.
01:21 There is a memorial for sailors and migrants been lost at sea.
01:26 And the Pope will be paying his respects there.
01:28 So really, that is a big part of his evening tonight.
01:31 Again, pushing forward that message of compassion and tolerance towards migrants.
01:36 However, that is not necessarily a message which goes down particularly well
01:40 with all Catholics here in France.
01:44 Far right and right wing politicians tend to rely on the Catholic vote
01:49 when they're trying to get elected.
01:51 And those politicians tend to have the view that France should be closing
01:56 its borders and not necessarily being compassionate and tolerant towards migrants.
02:00 So that's the Pope's message here while he's in Marseilles.
02:02 Not necessarily something that is sort of unanimously supported by Catholics
02:07 here in France.
02:08 Claire, you said it wasn't a state visit, yet we had the Prime Minister,
02:11 Elizabeth Bourne, welcome the pontiff at the airport.
02:15 And tomorrow we have the French President Emmanuel Macron,
02:17 who will be meeting one on one with the Pope,
02:19 as well as attending mass, a decision that raised some eyebrows here in France.
02:24 Tell us more.
02:25 Certainly, and not just any mass, this is a mega mass at the city's Velodrome Stadium.
02:32 We're expecting 57,000 people in that stadium.
02:36 Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, will be there.
02:39 Now, he says he's going in an official capacity as a president, not as a Catholic.
02:43 He will not be receiving communion.
02:45 He will not be showing any religious signs or symbols.
02:49 And that, of course, is all in line with France's secularism values.
02:53 France has its own strict version of secularism,
02:56 which really separates the church from the state.
02:59 But Emmanuel Macron's presence tomorrow at the mass has attracted criticism,
03:04 particularly from left wing politicians, the head of the Communist Party,
03:08 as well as the La France Insoumise left wing party, far left party.
03:12 They've come out and said, listen, as the president of the Republic,
03:16 he should not be at a mass with the Pope on French soil.
03:21 It's not appropriate, particularly as we are in the midst of a big argument
03:24 here in France about the wearing of abayas in state school.
03:28 Here in France, pupils, teachers are not allowed to wear
03:31 any religious symbols when they're on school premises.
03:35 And there was a gray area when it came to abayas, which are worn by women.
03:40 The education minister, Gabrielle Attal, just at the beginning of term,
03:44 clarified that and said that abayas were not allowed in state schools.
03:47 And that in that context, some on the left are saying,
03:51 how can we forbid the wearing of abayas in state schools?
03:55 And yet the French president is celebrating mass with the Pope.
03:58 Claire, thank you very much for that update.
04:01 Claire Pacqueline reporting there for us from Marseille.
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