Emmanuel Macron meets Pope Francis at the Vatican for the third time

Published on: 24/10/2022 – 11:26 French President Emmanuel Macron met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday. The interview was to focus in particular on the war in Ukraine, but also on social debates in France, such as the reception of refugees and the end of life. Emmanuel Macron was received on Monday, October 24, by Pope Francis at the Vatican against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the debate on the end of life in France. This is his third papal audience: the first in June 2018, while the second dates back to less than a year ago, in November 2021. The French head of state, accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron, arrived at the Apostolic Palace, which adjoins St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for a private audience. The tete-a-tete with the sovereign pontiff was to be followed by an interview with the number two of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as well as with the pope’s “minister” of foreign affairs, Bishop 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 “decide” and according to the “terms” of Kiev. On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Pope Francis has not stopped condemning the conflict since February, while trying to maintain a diplomatic dialogue with Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church, which is very much aligned with the positions of the Kremlin. Emmanuel Macron also called on religions, in his speech of Sunday, to their “duty of resistance” against “the drive for purity” and the return of the “great fears” which agitate Western societies. According to the Elysée, the interview was also to focus on social debates in France, such as the reception of refugees and the end of life. The pope spoke out on Friday against euthanasia during a speech to French elected officials, at the very time when Paris is preparing to launch a citizens’ convention on this delicate question to lead to a possible change of the law. ec AFP