Emmanuel Macron will go there “as president”

Despite the criticism, Emmanuel Macron confirmed that he will attend Pope Francis’ mass in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) on Saturday September 23. He was keen to defend his choice during a visit to a church in Côte-d’Or as part of Heritage Days. “I consider it my place to go. I will not go (at Mass) as a Catholic but as President of the French Republic who is indeed secular”he said.

The opposition denounces Emmanuel Macron’s decision

The opposition rushed to respond to Emmanuel Macron’s statement. “A President of the Republic does not have to demonstrate his preference for a religion”Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF, spoke on Friday. “No religious ceremony for an elected official in France”, believes Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The presence of a chefFrench State at a papal mass is a first since that celebrated in 1980 by John Paul II on the square in front of Notre-Dame, in the presence of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.