No ‘Sea of Death’: Pope Calls for Pan-European Action on Migration

French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
TT

No ‘Sea of Death’: Pope Calls for Pan-European Action on Migration

French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (2ndL) and his wife Brigitte (L) greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the Palais du Pharo in the southern port city of Marseille on September 23, 2023. (AFP)

Pope Francis on Saturday condemned "belligerent nationalisms" and called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean, where thousands have drowned, from becoming "the graveyard of dignity".

Francis spoke out in favor of welcoming migrants, in a long speech that concluded a Church conference on Mediterranean issues in Marseille, a French port that for centuries has been a crossroads of cultures and religions.

"There is a cry of pain that resonates most of all, and it is turning the Mediterranean, the 'mare nostrum', from the cradle of civilization into the 'mare mortuum', the graveyard of dignity: it is the stifled cry of migrant brothers and sisters," he said, using Latin terms meaning "our sea" and "sea of death".

Francis was welcomed at the windy portside where the conference center is located by President Emmanuel Macron, with whom he was due to have a private meeting later on Saturday before returning to Rome.

The pope began the day by visiting a center for the needy in Marseilles' Saint Mauront district, one of France's poorest, run by the order of nuns founded by Saint Mother Teresa.

Later at the conference, he called for "an ample number of legal and regular entrances" of migrants, with emphasis on accepting those fleeing war, hunger and poverty, rather than on "preservation of one's own wellbeing".

According to UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, about 178,500 migrants have come to Europe via the Mediterranean this year, while about 2,500 died or went missing.

Governments in several European countries, including Italy, Hungary, and Poland, are led by outspoken opponents of immigration.

Francis called on people to "hear the cries of pain" rising from North Africa and the Middle East.

"How greatly we need this at the present juncture, when antiquated and belligerent nationalisms want to make the dream of the community of nations fade!" he said. He did not name any countries.

While Francis has said often that migrants should be shared among the 27 EU countries, his overall openness towards migrants, including once calling their exclusion "scandalous, disgusting and sinful," has riled conservative politicians.

His 27-hour trip has been dominated by migration issues. On Friday, he said migrants who risk drowning at sea "must be rescued" because doing so was "a duty of humanity" and that those who impede rescues commit "a gesture of hate".



Israeli Security Services Arrest Israeli Man over Alleged Iranian-Backed Assassination Plot

File photo: Israeli police block a road leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday. (Reuters)
File photo: Israeli police block a road leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Security Services Arrest Israeli Man over Alleged Iranian-Backed Assassination Plot

File photo: Israeli police block a road leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday. (Reuters)
File photo: Israeli police block a road leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday. (Reuters)

Israeli security services said on Thursday they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot targeting prominent people including the prime minister.
It said the person was a businessman with connections in Türkiye who had attended at least two meetings in Iran to discuss the possibility of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency.
The arrest took place last month, according to a joint statement by Shin Bet and the Israeli police that highlighted the intelligence war running alongside the escalating conflict on Israel's border with southern Lebanon.
Last week, Shin Bet uncovered what it said was a plot by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior defense official, who was subsequently identified as the former army Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon.
The announcement of the arrest came a day after Hezbollah was hit for a second day by a sophisticated attack that detonated communications equipment remotely, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 450.
Israel has not commented directly on the attack but multiple security sources have said it was undertaken by Israel's spy agency Mossad.