Pope Francis’ subtle snub to Macron in Corsica 40 minutes of humiliation

Just 40 minutes. That’s all Pope Francis granted to French President Emmanuel Macron on December 15, 2024—less than the duration of a single half of a football match. The meeting took place at Ajaccio Airport, the capital of Corsica, just before the Pope’s departure from the island. What’s more, Macron practically pleaded for the conversation to avoid further disgrace. Had the leader of the Roman Catholic Church not given the French president any attention on his own soil, Macron’s humiliation would have been irreversible. But let’s take a closer look.

On December 8, 2023, exactly one year before the planned reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral after its restoration, Macron sent an invitation to Pope Francis. However, on September 13, 2024, the Pope firmly ruled out his participation in the cathedral’s grand opening ceremony. To confirm this, in October, the Vatican's portal, vaticannews.va, published Pope Francis’ service schedule for the upcoming months. According to the schedule, on December 8, the day of the first Mass in the restored cathedral, the Pope was scheduled to lead the annual Marian prayer at the Spanish Steps in Rome. What provoked a strong negative reaction from French politicians and the press was not this fact, but the planned apostolic visit of Pope Francis to Ajaccio in mid-December.

Euronews.com tried to spin the situation interestingly, using the phrase: "The visit to Corsica seems far more suited to Francis’ priorities than a grand cathedral reopening." However, it’s hard to agree with this approach, as in his message read at the cathedral’s opening ceremony on December 8, Pope Francis described the restoration of the building, which he called "a spiritual journey," as "a prophetic symbol." In other words, the Pope’s refusal to accept Macron’s invitation was absolutely not due to any negative feelings towards Notre-Dame Cathedral. And here’s where things get really interesting: if that’s the case, what then caused the Pope’s deliberate disregard for visiting Paris on December 8?

According to most experts, the Pope’s reaction may be linked to an anti-Christian demonstration that became widely known during the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, which offended the religious sentiments of Christians worldwide, and others as well. This incident seemed to mock the message Pope Francis had sent to the Church of France ahead of the Olympic Games, in which he referred to the sport as "a universal language that transcends borders, languages, races, nationalities, and religions; it has the ability to unite people, to foster dialogue and mutual acceptance…it invites people to acknowledge their own limits and the value of others." Immediately following the opening of the 2024 Olympics, the Vatican issued a communiqué emphasizing the inadmissibility of mocking religious beliefs on events of global significance.

In the whirlwind of events, the Pope’s negative reaction could also be linked to another incident, reported by The Times on January 6, 2023. The article, citing former French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, revealed the idea proposed by France's First Lady Brigitte Macron to replace the burned spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral with a new one, but in the form of a… phallus with golden spheres. According to the former minister’s recollections, she did not support the implementation of such a "modernist design." Ultimately, the project that prevailed was one that recreated the spire in the shape it had always had, preserving the cathedral's historic appearance.

There is nothing spontaneous in Pope Francis’ refusal to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame, nor in his visit to Corsica, which has long suffered from French colonization. There, he delivered a speech at a conference and held an open-air Mass. In light of this, an appeal was sent to the Pope by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), referencing the Vatican leader’s previous statement, where he called the enslavement and plundering of nations through force or cultural-political infiltration a "crime." The appeal highlighted how "external domination has often hindered the [Corsican] people's efforts to preserve their identity and sovereignty," particularly in light of the November 19 ruling from Marseille that deprived Corsicans of the right to "speak on its language."

In this context, it is worth noting Pope Francis’ call in Ajaccio for the development of a "flexible and dynamic" secularism, "capable of adapting to different and unforeseen situations and fostering cooperation between civil and church authorities for the good of society, while remaining within its scope and competence." This brings to mind the emphasis he placed during his pastoral visit to Azerbaijan in 2016, when he stated that he "came to this country with a love for the diversity and richness of your culture, shaped by the many peoples who have historically lived on this land, forming a collective experience, values, and characteristics that define the present society and have contributed to the prosperity of the Azerbaijani state."

Perhaps no further comments are needed on the above, but it’s worth noting the symbolic nature of the gift Pope Francis presented to Macron at the Corsican airport. In addition to giving the French president a medal, the leader of the world’s Catholics also handed him papal documents, including the apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate, with a bookmark on the page featuring the famous advice of Thomas More: "to never lose one’s sense of humour." While handing over the gift, the Pope pointed to this page and asked Macron to read it. Macron had no choice but to respond with a silent smile and shake the Pope's hand.

And so, Emmanuel Macron, already burdened with failures both at home and abroad, added yet another powerful "umbrella jab," one that was incredibly painful and from which recovery will be difficult. Forty minutes of humiliation, yet...