France: The Political Aspects of the Pope's Visit to Marseille (2)

Towards a Eurafrica?

Faced with the Pope's utopian dream, Marcello Veneziani offers in La Verità on September 20, a projection on a relatively near future: “The dream of the humanitarian, radical, and catho-progressive Left is Eurafrica. That is to say, a continent unified by migratory flows and a key word: welcome.”

“There are no illegal immigrants, but every human being has the right to live wherever they want, without limits. The project is an inclusive society where what counts is the absolute will of individuals, not that of peoples, states, societies, civilizations.… Let us reason through what would happen, following these principles, in a few years at the European level. To put it symbolically, the 450 million Europeans would be surrounded, invaded and replaced by 450 million Africans, Arabs, Asians, and South Americans.”

Reminiscent of The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail, Marcello Veneziani asks: “What would happen? Europe would disappear, Europeans would be a minority at home, all social systems, social protection, health, taxes, already in bad shape, would collapse.”

“Civil wars, internal conflicts, street violence, attacks against still well-off populations, discrimination, persecution, and barriers would explode. We would live in a broken, enraged, fearful, and alienated world, which would complete the destruction of civilization and its social and vital structures with a radical acceleration.”

And he draws this conclusion, which the Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah speaks about often: “Furthermore, we would worsen the fate of Africa and we will not have solved the world's problems, because if you take a third of its population away from Africa, the most dynamic and vital part, you plunge it deeper into misery and oppression.”

A Political Maneuver by the European Left?

Far from any fiction, Ruben Razzante reveals, in La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana of September 15, the underside of a political maneuver by European socialists. According to him, the latter are trying to block funds intended by Brussels for Tunisia, so that it will close its borders.

He writes: “It would be appropriate for someone to tell to the Italians why thousands and thousands of desperate people continue to leave Tunisia, despite the fact that the Memorandum was signed two months ago providing for the ‘immediate’ disbursement 150 million euros to Tunisia to the disaster-stricken coffers of the North African state and 105 million euros to close its borders.”

“In European institutional settings, politicians and bureaucrats of the European Left are blocking the disbursement of these funds, which the Tunis government has in fact never received. The consequence is that without those funds, as they explain from the Chigi Palace [seat of the presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy], Tunisia cannot pay the salaries of the agents of the National Guard and other security forces called to enforce the agreements concluded with Italy.”

“Giorgia Meloni’s heartfelt and just appeals to stop departures from the countries of origin are of little use. The European machine for managing the migrant emergency has never been seriously activated because European socialists want to stop the rise of popular and conservative forces towards triumph in the next European elections.”

“And then comes the suspicion that throwing Tunisia into chaos could serve, in the diabolical minds of European leaders, to weaken the Meloni government and to encourage a recovery in the polls by those left-wing forces who fear defeat in the European elections next spring.”

The Vatican's Silence on the Fate of Migrants to Saudi Arabia

The Pope seems selective in what he will speak out on. Francis should know what fate was reserved for Ethiopian migrants who tried to enter Saudi Arabia from Yemen in March 2022. According to Agence France Presse on August 21, 2023, the Human Right Watch ( HRW) organization, hardly suspected of identity-based nationalism, published a 73-page report, based on the testimonies of 38 migrants, as well as satellite images, videos, and photos.

In these testimonies, migrants recount scenes of horror: “Women, men, and children scattered across the mountainous landscape, seriously injured, dismembered or already dead.…They were shooting at us, it was like a hail of bullets,” declares a 20-year-old girl from the Ethiopian region of Oromia.

She adds with horror: “I saw a man calling for help, he had lost both his legs, but we couldn’t help him because we were running to save our own lives.” According to the report, people traveling alone or in small groups said border guards hit them with stones and metal bars.

14 people interviewed witnessed or were themselves injured by point-blank shooting, HRW adds. Some said Saudi border guards came down from observation posts and beat survivors. HRW calls on Riyadh to “immediately stop” the use of deadly force against migrants and asylum seekers, urging the United Nations to investigate these testimonies.

The Vatican: A Welcoming Land?

On September 18, Claudio Gazzoli made a proposal on his blog that might seem preposterous, but one that many Europeans, constantly accused of selfishness by the Pope, would like to see come true. He suggests that migrants seek asylum in the Vatican: “There you can be sure to find a great leader who will welcome you with open arms, who cares about you so much that he mentions you every five words that come out of his mouth.”

“It is a small state, it is true, but taking advantage of the large square for pitching tents, made available by the diligent custodian of the basilica, the basilica itself [is available], given that they no longer use it for religious ceremonies. [Then there is] the completely empty apostolic palace, the museums, and the gardens, if they make a few adjustments; even with bunk beds, they could accommodate at least 200,000 people. There you can be sure to find cardinals, bishops, and prelates so eager to welcome you that they will be happy to share, many of them, even a room at the Hotel Santa Marta with you. There you can easily continue to practice your religion as if you were at home, indeed they would gladly give you the great basilica and participate with great devotion in your prayers.”

And he concludes: “Finally, you would give them the great opportunity, for which they are so fond, to apply to the letter the precepts they continually declare, love, inclusion, welcome, tolerance, attention for others, sharing, equality, fraternity, poverty… Of course, you will be crowded, but they really like big crowds!”