Francis: radical leader who broke the papal mouldMon, 21 Apr 2025 13:32:18 GMT

Pope Francis, who died Monday aged 88, will go down in history as a radical pontiff, a champion of underdogs who forged a more compassionate Catholic Church while stopping short of overhauling centuries-old dogma.Dubbed “the people’s Pope”, the Argentine pontiff loved being among his flock and was popular with the faithful, though he faced bitter …

Francis: radical leader who broke the papal mouldMon, 21 Apr 2025 13:32:18 GMT Read More »

Francis: radical leader who broke the papal mould

Pope Francis, who died Monday aged 88, will go down in history as a radical pontiff, a champion of underdogs who forged a more compassionate Catholic Church while stopping short of overhauling centuries-old dogma.Dubbed “the people’s Pope”, the Argentine pontiff loved being among his flock and was popular with the faithful, though he faced bitter opposition from traditionalists within the Church.The first pope from the Americas and the southern hemisphere, he staunchly defended the most disadvantaged, from migrants to communities battered by climate change, which he warned was a crisis caused by humankind.But while he confronted head-on the global scandal of sex abuse by priests, survivors’ groups said concrete measures were slow in coming.From his election in March 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was eager to make his mark as the leader of the Catholic Church. He became the first pope to take the name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century mystic who renounced his wealth and devoted his life to the poor.”How I would like a poor church for the poor,” he said three days after his election as the 266th pope.He was a humble figurehead who wore plain robes, eschewed the sumptuous papal palaces and made his own phone calls, some of them to widows, rape victims or prisoners.The football-loving former archbishop of Buenos Aires was also more accessible than his predecessors, chatting with young people about issues ranging from social media to pornography — and talking openly about his health.Francis always left the door open to retiring like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down.After Benedict died in December 2022, Francis became the first sitting pope in modern history to lead a papal funeral.He suffered increasingly poor health, from colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia in June 2023 to bouts of bronchitis and knee pain that forced him to use a wheelchair.His fourth hospitalisation, of more than a month for bronchitis in both lungs, was his longest, raising speculation he might step down. But he brushed off talk of quitting, saying in February 2023 that papal resignations should not become “a normal thing”.In a 2024 memoir, he wrote that resignation was a “distant possibility” justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”.- Kissed prisoners’ feet -Before his first Easter at the Vatican, he washed and kissed the feet of prisoners at a Rome prison.It was the first in a series of powerful symbolic gestures that helped him achieve enthusiastic global admiration that eluded his predecessor.For his first trip abroad, Francis chose the Italian island of Lampedusa, the point of entry for tens of thousands of migrants hoping to reach Europe, and slammed the “globalisation of indifference”.He also condemned plans by US President Donald Trump during his first term to build a border wall against Mexico as un-Christian.After Trump’s re-election, Francis denounced his planned migrant deportations as a “major crisis” that “will end badly”.In 2016, with Europe’s migration crisis at a peak, Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos and returned to Rome with three families of asylum-seeking Syrian Muslims.He was also committed to inter-faith reconciliation, kissing the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in a historic February 2016 encounter, and making a joint call for freedom of belief with leading Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb in 2019.Francis re-energised Vatican diplomacy in other ways, helping facilitate a historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, and encouraging the peace process in Colombia.And he sought to improve ties with China through a historic — but criticised — 2018 accord on the naming of bishops.- Climate appeal -Experts credited Francis with having influenced the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords with his “Laudato Si” encyclical, an appeal for action on climate change that was grounded in science.He argued that developed economies were to blame for an impending environmental catastrophe, and in a fresh appeal in 2023 warned that some of the damage was “already irreversible”.An advocate of peace, the pontiff repeatedly denounced arms manufacturers and argued that in the myriad of conflicts seen around the globe, a Third World War was underway.But his interventions were not always well received, and he sparked outrage from Kyiv after praising those in war-torn Ukraine who had the “courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”.In his modest rooms in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, Francis dealt with stress by writing down his problems in letters to Saint Joseph.”From the moment I was elected I had a very particular feeling of profound peace. And that has never left me,” he said in 2017.He also loved classical music and tango, stopping off once at a shop in Rome to buy records.- ‘Who am I to judge?’ -Francis’s admirers credit him with transforming perceptions of an institution beset by scandals when he took over, helping to bring lapsed believers back into the fold.He will be remembered as the pope who, on the subject of gay Catholics, said: “Who am I to judge?”He allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, and approved the baptism of transgender believers as well as blessings for same-sex couples.But he dropped the idea of letting priests marry after an outcry, and despite nominating several women to leading positions inside the Vatican, he disappointed those who wanted women allowed to be ordained.Critics accused him of tampering dangerously with tenets of Catholic teaching, and he faced strong opposition to many of his reforms.In 2017, four conservatives cardinals made an almost unheard of public challenge to his authority, saying his changes had sown doctrinal confusion among believers.But his Church showed no inclination to relax its ban on artificial contraception or opposition to gay marriage — and he insisted that abortion was “murder”.Francis also pushed reforms within the Vatican, from allowing cardinals to be tried by civilian courts to overhauling the Holy See’s banking system.He also sought to address the enormously damaging issue of sex abuse by priests by meeting victims and vowing to hold those responsible accountable.He opened up Vatican archives to civil courts and made it compulsory to report suspicions of abuse or its cover-up to Church authorities.But critics say his legacy will be a Church that remains reluctant to hand paedophile priests over to the police.- ‘Raised on pasta’ -Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born into an Italian emigrant family in Flores, a middle-class district of Buenos Aires, on December 17, 1936.The eldest of five children, he was “born an Argentine but raised on pasta”, wrote biographer Paul Vallely.From 13, he worked afternoons in a hosiery factory while studying to become a chemical technician in the mornings. Later he had a brief stint as a nightclub bouncer.He was said to have liked dancing and girls, even coming close to proposing to one before, at age 17, he found a religious vocation.Francis later recounted a period of turmoil during his Jesuit training, when he became besotted with a woman he met at a family wedding.By then he had survived a near-fatal infection that resulted in the removal of part of a lung. His impaired breathing scuppered his hopes of becoming a missionary in Japan.He was ordained a priest in 1969 and appointed the provincial, or leader, of the Jesuits in Argentina just four years later.His time at the helm of the order, which spanned the country’s years of military dictatorship, was difficult.Critics accused him of betraying two radical priests who were imprisoned and tortured by the regime. No convincing evidence of the claim ever emerged but his leadership of the order was divisive and, in 1990, he was demoted and exiled to Argentina’s second-largest city, Cordoba.Then, in his 50s, Bergoglio is seen by most biographers as having undergone a midlife crisis.He emerged to embark on a new career in the mainstream of the Catholic hierarchy, reinventing himself first as the “Bishop of the Slums” in Buenos Aires and later as the pope who would break the mould.

Francis: radical leader who broke the papal mould

Pope Francis, who died Monday aged 88, will go down in history as a radical pontiff, a champion of underdogs who forged a more compassionate Catholic Church while stopping short of overhauling centuries-old dogma.Dubbed “the people’s Pope”, the Argentine pontiff loved being among his flock and was popular with the faithful, though he faced bitter opposition from traditionalists within the Church.The first pope from the Americas and the southern hemisphere, he staunchly defended the most disadvantaged, from migrants to communities battered by climate change, which he warned was a crisis caused by humankind.But while he confronted head-on the global scandal of sex abuse by priests, survivors’ groups said concrete measures were slow in coming.From his election in March 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was eager to make his mark as the leader of the Catholic Church. He became the first pope to take the name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century mystic who renounced his wealth and devoted his life to the poor.”How I would like a poor church for the poor,” he said three days after his election as the 266th pope.He was a humble figurehead who wore plain robes, eschewed the sumptuous papal palaces and made his own phone calls, some of them to widows, rape victims or prisoners.The football-loving former archbishop of Buenos Aires was also more accessible than his predecessors, chatting with young people about issues ranging from social media to pornography — and talking openly about his health.Francis always left the door open to retiring like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down.After Benedict died in December 2022, Francis became the first sitting pope in modern history to lead a papal funeral.He suffered increasingly poor health, from colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia in June 2023 to bouts of bronchitis and knee pain that forced him to use a wheelchair.His fourth hospitalisation, of more than a month for bronchitis in both lungs, was his longest, raising speculation he might step down. But he brushed off talk of quitting, saying in February 2023 that papal resignations should not become “a normal thing”.In a 2024 memoir, he wrote that resignation was a “distant possibility” justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”.- Kissed prisoners’ feet -Before his first Easter at the Vatican, he washed and kissed the feet of prisoners at a Rome prison.It was the first in a series of powerful symbolic gestures that helped him achieve enthusiastic global admiration that eluded his predecessor.For his first trip abroad, Francis chose the Italian island of Lampedusa, the point of entry for tens of thousands of migrants hoping to reach Europe, and slammed the “globalisation of indifference”.He also condemned plans by US President Donald Trump during his first term to build a border wall against Mexico as un-Christian.After Trump’s re-election, Francis denounced his planned migrant deportations as a “major crisis” that “will end badly”.In 2016, with Europe’s migration crisis at a peak, Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos and returned to Rome with three families of asylum-seeking Syrian Muslims.He was also committed to inter-faith reconciliation, kissing the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in a historic February 2016 encounter, and making a joint call for freedom of belief with leading Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb in 2019.Francis re-energised Vatican diplomacy in other ways, helping facilitate a historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, and encouraging the peace process in Colombia.And he sought to improve ties with China through a historic — but criticised — 2018 accord on the naming of bishops.- Climate appeal -Experts credited Francis with having influenced the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords with his “Laudato Si” encyclical, an appeal for action on climate change that was grounded in science.He argued that developed economies were to blame for an impending environmental catastrophe, and in a fresh appeal in 2023 warned that some of the damage was “already irreversible”.An advocate of peace, the pontiff repeatedly denounced arms manufacturers and argued that in the myriad of conflicts seen around the globe, a Third World War was underway.But his interventions were not always well received, and he sparked outrage from Kyiv after praising those in war-torn Ukraine who had the “courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”.In his modest rooms in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, Francis dealt with stress by writing down his problems in letters to Saint Joseph.”From the moment I was elected I had a very particular feeling of profound peace. And that has never left me,” he said in 2017.He also loved classical music and tango, stopping off once at a shop in Rome to buy records.- ‘Who am I to judge?’ -Francis’s admirers credit him with transforming perceptions of an institution beset by scandals when he took over, helping to bring lapsed believers back into the fold.He will be remembered as the pope who, on the subject of gay Catholics, said: “Who am I to judge?”He allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, and approved the baptism of transgender believers as well as blessings for same-sex couples.But he dropped the idea of letting priests marry after an outcry, and despite nominating several women to leading positions inside the Vatican, he disappointed those who wanted women allowed to be ordained.Critics accused him of tampering dangerously with tenets of Catholic teaching, and he faced strong opposition to many of his reforms.In 2017, four conservatives cardinals made an almost unheard of public challenge to his authority, saying his changes had sown doctrinal confusion among believers.But his Church showed no inclination to relax its ban on artificial contraception or opposition to gay marriage — and he insisted that abortion was “murder”.Francis also pushed reforms within the Vatican, from allowing cardinals to be tried by civilian courts to overhauling the Holy See’s banking system.He also sought to address the enormously damaging issue of sex abuse by priests by meeting victims and vowing to hold those responsible accountable.He opened up Vatican archives to civil courts and made it compulsory to report suspicions of abuse or its cover-up to Church authorities.But critics say his legacy will be a Church that remains reluctant to hand paedophile priests over to the police.- ‘Raised on pasta’ -Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born into an Italian emigrant family in Flores, a middle-class district of Buenos Aires, on December 17, 1936.The eldest of five children, he was “born an Argentine but raised on pasta”, wrote biographer Paul Vallely.From 13, he worked afternoons in a hosiery factory while studying to become a chemical technician in the mornings. Later he had a brief stint as a nightclub bouncer.He was said to have liked dancing and girls, even coming close to proposing to one before, at age 17, he found a religious vocation.Francis later recounted a period of turmoil during his Jesuit training, when he became besotted with a woman he met at a family wedding.By then he had survived a near-fatal infection that resulted in the removal of part of a lung. His impaired breathing scuppered his hopes of becoming a missionary in Japan.He was ordained a priest in 1969 and appointed the provincial, or leader, of the Jesuits in Argentina just four years later.His time at the helm of the order, which spanned the country’s years of military dictatorship, was difficult.Critics accused him of betraying two radical priests who were imprisoned and tortured by the regime. No convincing evidence of the claim ever emerged but his leadership of the order was divisive and, in 1990, he was demoted and exiled to Argentina’s second-largest city, Cordoba.Then, in his 50s, Bergoglio is seen by most biographers as having undergone a midlife crisis.He emerged to embark on a new career in the mainstream of the Catholic hierarchy, reinventing himself first as the “Bishop of the Slums” in Buenos Aires and later as the pope who would break the mould.

Francis: radical leader who broke the papal mould

Pope Francis, who died Monday aged 88, will go down in history as a radical pontiff, a champion of underdogs who forged a more compassionate Catholic Church while stopping short of overhauling centuries-old dogma.Dubbed “the people’s Pope”, the Argentine pontiff loved being among his flock and was popular with the faithful, though he faced bitter opposition from traditionalists within the Church.The first pope from the Americas and the southern hemisphere, he staunchly defended the most disadvantaged, from migrants to communities battered by climate change, which he warned was a crisis caused by humankind.But while he confronted head-on the global scandal of sex abuse by priests, survivors’ groups said concrete measures were slow in coming.From his election in March 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was eager to make his mark as the leader of the Catholic Church. He became the first pope to take the name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century mystic who renounced his wealth and devoted his life to the poor.”How I would like a poor church for the poor,” he said three days after his election as the 266th pope.He was a humble figurehead who wore plain robes, eschewed the sumptuous papal palaces and made his own phone calls, some of them to widows, rape victims or prisoners.The football-loving former archbishop of Buenos Aires was also more accessible than his predecessors, chatting with young people about issues ranging from social media to pornography — and talking openly about his health.Francis always left the door open to retiring like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down.After Benedict died in December 2022, Francis became the first sitting pope in modern history to lead a papal funeral.He suffered increasingly poor health, from colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia in June 2023 to bouts of bronchitis and knee pain that forced him to use a wheelchair.His fourth hospitalisation, of more than a month for bronchitis in both lungs, was his longest, raising speculation he might step down. But he brushed off talk of quitting, saying in February 2023 that papal resignations should not become “a normal thing”.In a 2024 memoir, he wrote that resignation was a “distant possibility” justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”.- Kissed prisoners’ feet -Before his first Easter at the Vatican, he washed and kissed the feet of prisoners at a Rome prison.It was the first in a series of powerful symbolic gestures that helped him achieve enthusiastic global admiration that eluded his predecessor.For his first trip abroad, Francis chose the Italian island of Lampedusa, the point of entry for tens of thousands of migrants hoping to reach Europe, and slammed the “globalisation of indifference”.He also condemned plans by US President Donald Trump during his first term to build a border wall against Mexico as un-Christian.After Trump’s re-election, Francis denounced his planned migrant deportations as a “major crisis” that “will end badly”.In 2016, with Europe’s migration crisis at a peak, Francis flew to the Greek island of Lesbos and returned to Rome with three families of asylum-seeking Syrian Muslims.He was also committed to inter-faith reconciliation, kissing the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in a historic February 2016 encounter, and making a joint call for freedom of belief with leading Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb in 2019.Francis re-energised Vatican diplomacy in other ways, helping facilitate a historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, and encouraging the peace process in Colombia.And he sought to improve ties with China through a historic — but criticised — 2018 accord on the naming of bishops.- Climate appeal -Experts credited Francis with having influenced the landmark 2015 Paris climate accords with his “Laudato Si” encyclical, an appeal for action on climate change that was grounded in science.He argued that developed economies were to blame for an impending environmental catastrophe, and in a fresh appeal in 2023 warned that some of the damage was “already irreversible”.An advocate of peace, the pontiff repeatedly denounced arms manufacturers and argued that in the myriad of conflicts seen around the globe, a Third World War was underway.But his interventions were not always well received, and he sparked outrage from Kyiv after praising those in war-torn Ukraine who had the “courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”.In his modest rooms in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta guesthouse, Francis dealt with stress by writing down his problems in letters to Saint Joseph.”From the moment I was elected I had a very particular feeling of profound peace. And that has never left me,” he said in 2017.He also loved classical music and tango, stopping off once at a shop in Rome to buy records.- ‘Who am I to judge?’ -Francis’s admirers credit him with transforming perceptions of an institution beset by scandals when he took over, helping to bring lapsed believers back into the fold.He will be remembered as the pope who, on the subject of gay Catholics, said: “Who am I to judge?”He allowed divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, and approved the baptism of transgender believers as well as blessings for same-sex couples.But he dropped the idea of letting priests marry after an outcry, and despite nominating several women to leading positions inside the Vatican, he disappointed those who wanted women allowed to be ordained.Critics accused him of tampering dangerously with tenets of Catholic teaching, and he faced strong opposition to many of his reforms.In 2017, four conservatives cardinals made an almost unheard of public challenge to his authority, saying his changes had sown doctrinal confusion among believers.But his Church showed no inclination to relax its ban on artificial contraception or opposition to gay marriage — and he insisted that abortion was “murder”.Francis also pushed reforms within the Vatican, from allowing cardinals to be tried by civilian courts to overhauling the Holy See’s banking system.He also sought to address the enormously damaging issue of sex abuse by priests by meeting victims and vowing to hold those responsible accountable.He opened up Vatican archives to civil courts and made it compulsory to report suspicions of abuse or its cover-up to Church authorities.But critics say his legacy will be a Church that remains reluctant to hand paedophile priests over to the police.- ‘Raised on pasta’ -Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born into an Italian emigrant family in Flores, a middle-class district of Buenos Aires, on December 17, 1936.The eldest of five children, he was “born an Argentine but raised on pasta”, wrote biographer Paul Vallely.From 13, he worked afternoons in a hosiery factory while studying to become a chemical technician in the mornings. Later he had a brief stint as a nightclub bouncer.He was said to have liked dancing and girls, even coming close to proposing to one before, at age 17, he found a religious vocation.Francis later recounted a period of turmoil during his Jesuit training, when he became besotted with a woman he met at a family wedding.By then he had survived a near-fatal infection that resulted in the removal of part of a lung. His impaired breathing scuppered his hopes of becoming a missionary in Japan.He was ordained a priest in 1969 and appointed the provincial, or leader, of the Jesuits in Argentina just four years later.His time at the helm of the order, which spanned the country’s years of military dictatorship, was difficult.Critics accused him of betraying two radical priests who were imprisoned and tortured by the regime. No convincing evidence of the claim ever emerged but his leadership of the order was divisive and, in 1990, he was demoted and exiled to Argentina’s second-largest city, Cordoba.Then, in his 50s, Bergoglio is seen by most biographers as having undergone a midlife crisis.He emerged to embark on a new career in the mainstream of the Catholic hierarchy, reinventing himself first as the “Bishop of the Slums” in Buenos Aires and later as the pope who would break the mould.

Macron à Mayotte pour donner “un coup d’accélérateur” à la reconstruction

Emmanuel Macron multiplie les rencontres lundi à Mayotte pour donner “un coup d’accélérateur” à la reconstruction de l’archipel meurtri en décembre par le cyclone Chido, avant de présenter un plan de “refondation” du département, le plus pauvre de France.Quatre mois après le passage du cyclone qui a fait quelque 40 morts et causé 3,5 milliards d’euros de dommages, le chef de l’Etat est venu faire “le constat de ce qui est bien fait, ce qui n’est pas assez bien fait” et “donner le cap”, a-t-il dit à sa descente d’avion, accompagné de son épouse Brigitte, des ministres Manuel Valls (Outre-mer), Annie Genevard (Agriculture), Yannick Neuder (Santé) et Thani Mohamed-Soilihi (Francophonie).Il s’est ensuite rendu à Tsingoni (ouest) où il était déjà venu en décembre échanger avec des habitants toujours en détresse. Les réseaux d’eau, d’électricité et de télécommunications ont été rétablis dans la commune, mais le reste se fait attendre.”Le moral n’est pas tellement bon”, lui lance une femme alors que des chants traditionnels retentissent. Une autre se plaint du retard des assureurs. “On a toujours pas été relogé, pourtant je leur ai envoyé tous les papiers.””On est à la traîne par rapport à ce que vous avez fait pour La Réunion”, frappée en février par le cyclone Garance, déplore un travailleur du BTP.Au centre hospitalier de Mamoudzou, l’inquiétude est aussi palpable. Il nous faut “plus de moyens, plus de personnel, et dans la durée”, dit une infirmière au chef de l’Etat. Le personnel s’inquiète de la progression du chikungunya, qui frappe déjà durement La Réunion (6 morts).”On va y arriver. On essaie de trouver des solutions”, commente la cheffe adjointe des urgences avant qu’Emmanuel Macron remercie le personnel pour sa “mobilisation”.Alors que Mayotte est confronté à un défi migratoire, notamment en provenance des Comores voisines, le président a aussi rencontré des agents engagés dans la lutte contre l’immigration clandestine et est monté à bord d’une vedette d’interception sur le canal du Mozambique.- “Je suis lucide” -Il est arrivé avec, dans ses cartons, un projet de loi de programmation pour “la refondation” de l’archipel, qui vise à renforcer la lutte contre l’immigration clandestine, l’habitat illégal, l’insécurité et à soutenir l’économie locale.Il va présenter ce texte, attendu depuis des années, à des élus mahorais, avant de l’entériner dans la soirée par un Conseil des ministres spécial qu’il présidera en visioconférence depuis l’avion qui le mènera de Mayotte à La Réunion, deuxième étape de sa tournée de cinq jours dans l’océan Indien.”Je suis lucide, ce n’est pas un texte de loi qui réglera la situation”, a-t-il expliqué lundi. “C’est une volonté de chaque instant (…) pour régler les problèmes de fond”, auxquels est confronté l’archipel. “Nous avons de grandes entreprises françaises qui vont se déployer” à Mayotte, a-t-il promis.En attendant, les Mahorais attendent toujours le début des grands chantiers.Le Parlement a certes adopté en février une loi d’urgence qui prévoit des assouplissements aux règles d’urbanisme et des facilités fiscales pour booster la reconstruction.Mais entre manque de financements, coordination laborieuse et pénurie de matériaux, le processus patine. Et les habitations de fortune en tôle sont réapparues aussi vite qu’elles avaient été soufflées.Environ un tiers de la population, soit plus de 100.000 habitants, notamment les personnes en situation irrégulière venant des Comores, vivent dans des logements précaires.- “Convergence sociale” -Mayotte, où Marine Le Pen a réalisé un de ses meilleurs scores à la présidentielle de 2022 (59% au second tour), reste aussi un enjeu politique majeur.”Les Mahorais ne peuvent plus attendre: l’Etat doit urgemment venir en aide à ce territoire français !”, a martelé sur X le RN avant la visite présidentielle. Le projet de loi prévoit de durcir les conditions d’obtention du titre de séjour dans l’archipel ainsi qu’une extension de l’aide au retour volontaire.Il entend aussi faciliter les évacuations d’habitats insalubres dans les bidonvilles et les saisies d’armes dans un département à l’insécurité rampante.Mayotte, où le taux de chômage atteignait 37% et le niveau de vie restait sept fois plus faible qu’ailleurs en France avant le passage de Chido, doit devenir une zone franche globale, avec des abattements fiscaux à 100%.Le projet de loi prévoit aussi une “convergence sociale” entre la métropole et l’archipel où les minima sociaux, comme le RSA, sont aujourd’hui 50% inférieurs.

Macron à Mayotte pour donner “un coup d’accélérateur” à la reconstruction

Emmanuel Macron multiplie les rencontres lundi à Mayotte pour donner “un coup d’accélérateur” à la reconstruction de l’archipel meurtri en décembre par le cyclone Chido, avant de présenter un plan de “refondation” du département, le plus pauvre de France.Quatre mois après le passage du cyclone qui a fait quelque 40 morts et causé 3,5 milliards d’euros de dommages, le chef de l’Etat est venu faire “le constat de ce qui est bien fait, ce qui n’est pas assez bien fait” et “donner le cap”, a-t-il dit à sa descente d’avion, accompagné de son épouse Brigitte, des ministres Manuel Valls (Outre-mer), Annie Genevard (Agriculture), Yannick Neuder (Santé) et Thani Mohamed-Soilihi (Francophonie).Il s’est ensuite rendu à Tsingoni (ouest) où il était déjà venu en décembre échanger avec des habitants toujours en détresse. Les réseaux d’eau, d’électricité et de télécommunications ont été rétablis dans la commune, mais le reste se fait attendre.”Le moral n’est pas tellement bon”, lui lance une femme alors que des chants traditionnels retentissent. Une autre se plaint du retard des assureurs. “On a toujours pas été relogé, pourtant je leur ai envoyé tous les papiers.””On est à la traîne par rapport à ce que vous avez fait pour La Réunion”, frappée en février par le cyclone Garance, déplore un travailleur du BTP.Au centre hospitalier de Mamoudzou, l’inquiétude est aussi palpable. Il nous faut “plus de moyens, plus de personnel, et dans la durée”, dit une infirmière au chef de l’Etat. Le personnel s’inquiète de la progression du chikungunya, qui frappe déjà durement La Réunion (6 morts).”On va y arriver. On essaie de trouver des solutions”, commente la cheffe adjointe des urgences avant qu’Emmanuel Macron remercie le personnel pour sa “mobilisation”.Alors que Mayotte est confronté à un défi migratoire, notamment en provenance des Comores voisines, le président a aussi rencontré des agents engagés dans la lutte contre l’immigration clandestine et est monté à bord d’une vedette d’interception sur le canal du Mozambique.- “Je suis lucide” -Il est arrivé avec, dans ses cartons, un projet de loi de programmation pour “la refondation” de l’archipel, qui vise à renforcer la lutte contre l’immigration clandestine, l’habitat illégal, l’insécurité et à soutenir l’économie locale.Il va présenter ce texte, attendu depuis des années, à des élus mahorais, avant de l’entériner dans la soirée par un Conseil des ministres spécial qu’il présidera en visioconférence depuis l’avion qui le mènera de Mayotte à La Réunion, deuxième étape de sa tournée de cinq jours dans l’océan Indien.”Je suis lucide, ce n’est pas un texte de loi qui réglera la situation”, a-t-il expliqué lundi. “C’est une volonté de chaque instant (…) pour régler les problèmes de fond”, auxquels est confronté l’archipel. “Nous avons de grandes entreprises françaises qui vont se déployer” à Mayotte, a-t-il promis.En attendant, les Mahorais attendent toujours le début des grands chantiers.Le Parlement a certes adopté en février une loi d’urgence qui prévoit des assouplissements aux règles d’urbanisme et des facilités fiscales pour booster la reconstruction.Mais entre manque de financements, coordination laborieuse et pénurie de matériaux, le processus patine. Et les habitations de fortune en tôle sont réapparues aussi vite qu’elles avaient été soufflées.Environ un tiers de la population, soit plus de 100.000 habitants, notamment les personnes en situation irrégulière venant des Comores, vivent dans des logements précaires.- “Convergence sociale” -Mayotte, où Marine Le Pen a réalisé un de ses meilleurs scores à la présidentielle de 2022 (59% au second tour), reste aussi un enjeu politique majeur.”Les Mahorais ne peuvent plus attendre: l’Etat doit urgemment venir en aide à ce territoire français !”, a martelé sur X le RN avant la visite présidentielle. Le projet de loi prévoit de durcir les conditions d’obtention du titre de séjour dans l’archipel ainsi qu’une extension de l’aide au retour volontaire.Il entend aussi faciliter les évacuations d’habitats insalubres dans les bidonvilles et les saisies d’armes dans un département à l’insécurité rampante.Mayotte, où le taux de chômage atteignait 37% et le niveau de vie restait sept fois plus faible qu’ailleurs en France avant le passage de Chido, doit devenir une zone franche globale, avec des abattements fiscaux à 100%.Le projet de loi prévoit aussi une “convergence sociale” entre la métropole et l’archipel où les minima sociaux, comme le RSA, sont aujourd’hui 50% inférieurs.

Mort du pape: A Notre-Dame de Paris, croyants et touristes choqués et attristés

REVOICI pour clients multimédia”Difficile de trouver quelqu’un d’autre aussi humain”: sur le parvis de Notre-Dame, touristes et fidèles disaient leur tristesse, en ce lundi de Pâques, à l’annonce de la mort du pape François.Sur le parvis bondé de touristes faisant la queue, vers 11H00, pour entrer dans la cathédrale récemment rouverte au public après son terrible incendie d’avril 2019, beaucoup ne sont pas encore au courant de la mort de François. D’autres apprennent la mort du pape sur leur smartphone.  Croyants ou non, ils se disent “tristes et choqués”, à l’instar de Patricia, qui ne souhaite pas donner son nom de famille, compatriote argentine de Jorge Mario Bergoglio.”Il représentait la paix”, affirme Martin, un jeune Français de 15 ans. “Il était un exemple à suivre”, rend hommage Thomas Presley, Américain venu de Caroline du Nord.”Ca va être dur de travailler aujourd’hui!” affirme Renato Bustamente, guide colombien, qui soupire: “ça faisait longtemps qu’on n’avait pas eu un pape latino-américain, qui parle espagnol”. Très ému, ce catholique ne parvient à retenir ses larmes en évoquant un homme qui “a fait beaucoup pour intégrer tout le monde a l’Eglise, les pauvres, les discriminés”.”Ca me touche, il avait proposé des choses intéressantes. J’espère que ce sera suivi et qu’on gardera certaines valeurs. Je l’ai trouvé moderne parce qu’il a parlé à tout le monde”, témoigne Guillaume Georget, chef d’entreprise. Johanne Turgeon, Canadienne aux cheveux blancs, se dit “triste” et estime “difficile de trouver quelqu’un d’autre aussi humain”. – Messes et veillée -A 11H00 précises, les cloches de la cathédrale sonnent 88 coups en hommage au pape décédé à l’âge de 88 ans. La série est conclue par une grande volée sous un ciel d’épais nuages gris.”Je demande aux curés de Paris de faire sonner à 12h les cloches des églises paroissiales de tout notre diocèse”, a affirmé dans un communiqué l’archevêque de Paris Laurent Ulrich, en rendant hommage à un pape “aussi libre dans sa parole que dans ses décisions”.A l’intérieur de l’édifice religieux emblématique de Paris, un grand portrait de François trône déjà à côté du cierge pascal allumé samedi soir pendant la vigie. Une messe à l’intention du pape a commencé à midi. “Aujourd’hui cette action de grâce prend un caractère particulier”, lance l’abbé Bertrand Dufour, chapelain de la cathédrale, en rappelant l'”espérance prônée par le pape François qui a fait le thème du jubilé”, une célébration ayant lieu tous les 25 ans dans l’Eglise catholique.Une autre messe est prévue à 18H00 en présence d’officiels. A ce titre, la cathédrale sera fermée dès 16H00. Vers 19H00 lundi, un chapelet, série de prières, sera dit à Notre-Dame puis à 20H00 une veillée sera organisée sans durée fixée.La messe de 8H30 mardi sera également dite à l’intention du souverain pontife.La mort de François, survenue au lendemain du dimanche de Pâques qui marque pour les catholiques la résurrection de Jésus, prend une résonance particulière pour les fidèles sur le parvis.”Je regardais encore hier la messe qui aurait dû être dite par le pape. Il n’avait pas l’air en grande forme!”, commente Myriam Dupuis, guide conférencière. “Il a essayé de faire avancer certaines choses au niveau de l’Eglise, c’est plus difficile qu’on ne le pense. Il y avait une tentative d’évolution pour aller vers un monde plus moderne” mais “on ne sait pas ce qui va se passer, il va y avoir une lutte pour le pouvoir…”, pronostique-t-elle avant d’ajouter: “Ca se passe un jour de Pâques, c’est peut-être un message divin !”Franck Sauvaget-Sidon écoute les 88 coups de cloches. “La fête de Pâques c’est la résurrection, il a tenu péniblement jusqu’à cette date. (…) Il savait ses jours comptés, pour lui la pression est retombée” après le dimanche de Pâques, observe le Mayennais.