Pope Francis met French President Emmanuel Macron in Marseille on Saturday (September 23) after delivering a speech where he called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean, where thousands have drowned, from becoming "the graveyard of dignity."

Francis spoke out in favour of welcoming migrants, in a long speech that concluded a Church conference on Mediterranean issues in Marseille, a French port that for centuries has been a crossroads of cultures and religions.

His 27-hour trip has been dominated by migration issues. On Friday, he said migrants who risk drowning at sea "must be rescued" because doing so was "a duty of humanity" and that those who impede rescues commit "a gesture of hate."