“This is the first time in the history of the Vélodrome that we are all for the same team. » A few minutes before the Pope’s arrival, comedian Gad Elmaleh warms up the legendary OM stadium. As it should be, the artist puts the laughs on his side by evoking his family’s skepticism: “Oh so, are you going to Marseille for the pope’s visit? » “This event forced me to redefine myself again,” confides the director of Reste un peu, revealing with touching sincerity, as he regularly does, that he has now put joy at the center of his life. And, disarmingly and supplely, he dares, too bad for the piss-vinegar: “Let’s go where there is light…”
They came, then, several showbiz escapees for Pope Francis. ” Do not be afraid ! » the late John Paul II is said to have said. It is the actor Mehdi who holds the microphone to host this first part. After the Catholic pop group Glorious ignites and a singer from the musical Bernadette de Lourdes, with the composer Grégoire on the piano, the Marseille musician Jimmy Sax makes the lawn and the spans swing. Before giving way to a long procession of priests and bishops in white robes who cross the legendary lawn to settle at the foot of the pontifical tribune. Brass, drums, trumpets resonate, in a din worthy of a Hollywood epic. A good old organ temporizes. “Hallelujah,” shout the pilgrims in the stands with their throats outstretched. No, this is not a new OM player.
The Vélodrome is a cauldron. Here it is transformed into a temple of faith, who would have thought it? “It’s very good that we can show that we know how to do something other than play football,” says a Marseille volunteer with a smile. The clamors rise, the “olas” follow one another, even the bishops get involved. Sanctus, Hosanna, Magnificat… Liturgical chants resonate under the dome. Women, men, children from all walks of life, 57,000 people in total, mingle, like this Spanish woman and this Croatian man. “It is important for us to be there to show that we share the same Mediterranean,” he says. We see again this Senegalese woman from Aubagne climbing the steps of the Vélodrome with a flag bearing the image of François marked with the slogan “Viva el papa”. “I am a Christian, and it is a dream, a source of pride to see this pope,” she said.
Jennifer with her daughter, mother and aunt had their photo taken before entering the arena. “I am touched by what this pope says about migrants, he is right,” testifies the young woman from Marseille. She looks at her mother, who left Sao Tome, close to the equator, at the age of 14 with her parents to reach Portugal and then Marseille. “Pope Francis finds the words to defend peace,” believes Jennifer.
Here are the Pope’s words. In good French. “Hello Marseille, hello France,” says the holy father, perhaps to be forgiven for having said that he was not coming to France but to the Mediterranean. Commenting on the passage from the Gospel of the day, that of Saint Luke recounting the thrill of Elizabeth hearing the voice of Mary, Pope Francis delivers a homily to give new impetus to the “exhausted crowds”. “A cold and flat heart drags life along mechanically, without passion, without momentum, without desire,” the pope said, in Spanish. And we can get sick of all this in our European society: the cynicism, the disenchantment, the resignation, the uncertainty, a general feeling of sadness. Someone called them “sad passions”: it’s a life without thrill. »
The old head of a two-thousand-year-old religion addresses these words to all those who want to hear: “I think of the many “tremors” that France has experienced, of its history rich in holiness, in culture, in artists and thinkers who have fascinated so many generations. Even today, our life, the life of the Church, France, Europe need this: the grace of a thrill, a new thrill of faith, of charity and hope, of to rediscover the taste for commitment to fraternity, to still dare the risk of love in families and towards the weakest, and to find in the Gospel a grace which transforms and makes life beautiful. » Like this moment at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.
Pope Francis closed the celebration by inviting the crowd, to cheers: “Please pray for me! It’s not an easy job! » Gigantism does not prevent meditation. This ceremony, which looked like a big show, was punctuated by moments of silence, which were also impressive.