Pope Francis' visit to Marseille, with the added pressure of the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, represents a complex security challenge for the French authorities, who must ensure the safety of two heads of state without detracting from the celebrations of popular devotion. They will have to manage a kilometre-long public procession, as well as screen 60,000 worshippers at the entrance to the Stade Vélodrome.
Frédérique Camilleri, police prefect for the Bouches-du-Rhône region in the south of France in which Marseille sits, has spent nine months working to deliver "a plan never before seen in the history of Marseille". Five thousand police officers, supported by 1,000 security guards, will be on duty on Friday, September 22 and Saturday, September 23. Several hundred civil servants who were to be on leave on these days have been called in.
The Pope is expected to land at Marseille-Provence airport on Friday at 4:15pm. He will be welcomed by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The Holy Father will be preceded at all the sites he is due to visit by mine clearance teams. First at Notre-Dame de la Garde, then on Saturday at the Palais du Pharo and the Stade Vélodrome.
However, a change to the program announced on Wednesday, September 20 in the Vatican’s daily bulletin has upset the planned arrangements. Saturday's meeting with people experiencing economic hardship, as requested by Pope Francis, will be held not at the archbishop's palace, but at the House of the Missionaries of Charity. A highly symbolic choice, as the mission is located in the heart of one of Marseille's poorest areas, at the junction of the Saint-Mauront and Belle-de-Mai districts, historically home to the poorest of immigrants. Security services had to be called in urgently to check the area.
Following the example set by Macron when he came to present the Marseille en Grand plan, the police have decided to set up large, sealed perimeters around the event venues, with strict screening at a distance. At the Stade Vélodrome, only those with a ticket for the mass will be able to access the site. On the Prado, where the Popemobile is due to start its journey at 3:30pm on Saturday, access will only be possible from 9:30am.
The same arrangements will be in place in the morning around the Palais du Pharo which, given its position at the entrance to the Vieux-Port, will also be under surveillance by the maritime police. Air Force aircraft will be monitoring any air intrusion during the 26 hours of the Pope's visit, and an anti-drone system has also been deployed.
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