It was Emmanuel Macron’s third time since becoming president. The Head of State was received Monday, October 24 by Pope Francis at the Vatican, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine and debate on the end of life in France. Accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron, the French president went to the Apostolic Palace, which adjoins St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, for a private audience of 55 minutes.
On images released by the Vatican, the two men appeared smiling, Emmanuel Macron familiar with the sovereign pontiff as he had done in 2021. They then engaged in the traditional exchange of gifts. The pope presented the French president with a bronze medal depicting St. Peter’s Square. The Head of State gave him an edition of the “Treaty for Perpetual Peace” by Immanuel Kant dating from 1796.
“Pray for me”, asked the pope, greeting his guests. “I pray for you everyday”, replied Brigitte Macron. At the end of this head-to-head, 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 “minister” Foreign Affairs of the Pope, Monsignor Paul Gallagher.
President Macron has been in Rome since Sunday, where he delivered a speech at the opening of an interreligious peace summit organized by the Italian Catholic community Sant’Egidio. He delivered a plea for peace in Ukraine, while emphasizing that this could only happen when the Ukrainians “will decide” and according to “terms” from Kyiv.
On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis has not ceased to condemn the conflict since February, while trying to maintain a diplomatic dialogue with Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church, very aligned with the positions of the Kremlin. Emmanuel Macron also called on religions, in his speech on Sunday, to “duty of resistance” versus “the drive for purity” and the return of “great fears” that agitate Western societies.
According to the 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 on Friday during a speech in front of French elected officials, at the very moment when Paris is preparing to launch a citizens’ convention on this delicate question to lead to a possible change in the law.