SW News: The Holy Father will visit the French port city of Marseille in September. He will be the first pontiff to travel to the city in the south of France after Pope Clement VII’s visit in 1533. Pope Francis is making the visit to close the Mediterranean Meetings of Catholic bishops and young people from nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

It will be Pope Francis’ 44th overseas Apostolic Visit. He is slated to arrive at Marseille International Airport on September 22 at 4.15 PM local time. He will be given a state welcome by President Emmanuel Macron. The pontiff will then preside over a Marian prayer with priests in the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde at 5.15 PM. It will be followed by a meeting with religious leaders near the memorial of sailors and migrants who drowned at sea.

The following day, the pope will have a private meeting with people who are facing economic hardship at the residence of the Archbishop of Marseille. Pope Francis will then address the final session of the Meeting at the Palais du Pharo. There, he will also have a word with President Macron.

After presiding over Holy Mass at the Velodrome Stadium in the afternoon, the pope will depart for Rome and he is scheduled to arrive at 8.50 PM local time. This will be the second visit of Pope Francis to a French city ever since he began his Petrine office. It was on November 25, 2014, he made a one-day trip to Strasbourg to address the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.

Hosted by the Archdiocese of Marseille under the auspices of Cardinal Jean-Marc Avelin, the Mediterranean Meeting is a continuation of the Mediterranean Frontier of Peace meetings held in 2020 and 2022 in Bari and Florence in Italy. Those two meetings witnessed bishops and mayors of nations bordering the Mediterranean coming together to discuss the need for peace and fraternity in the region which is at the crossroads of cultures, languages and religions.