Pope Francis begins two-day trip in French city of Marseille

Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Pope Francis started his two-day stay in the French city of Marseille as he attended the annual Catholic Church-led Mediterranean Meetings.

Some 70 bishops and 120 young people aged 20-35 from throughout the Mediterranean region are expected to join the pontiff to "promote fraternity throughout the Mediterranean," church officials said. Several Muslim leaders and those of other faiths will attend as well.

One of the highlights of the trip will be Pope Francis participating in a mass at the city's Orange Velodrome stadium on Saturday afternoon, where French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to attend. Officials said they expected a crowd of about 50,000.

Pope Francis is set to visit the Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica and lead prayer there on Friday afternoon. He will also have an interfaith moment at a monument for sailors and migrants lost at sea.

Since 2014, more than 28,000 migrants have been documented by the International Organization for Migration as missing or dead while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. The United Nations organization said almost 180,000 have reached Europe this year.

"He has always had a message of solidarity, of fraternity on this issue and on the Mediterranean tragedy," Francois Thomas, the president of SOS Mediterranée, which performs vessel rescues, said. "We have to have the courage to saythat we can't let people drown at Europe's doors."