Pope has changed Vatican protocol on meeting divorced heads of state
March 04, 2016
Pope Francis has changed the rules of Vatican protocol regarding meetings with the spouses of visiting Catholic heads of state who are divorced and remarried.
In the past, in meetings between the Pontiff and a Catholic head of state who was divorced and remarried, the Pope would meet only with the head of state during the formal exchange of greetings; he would meet later with the spouse in private. Pope Francis has discarded that policy, to meet with both.
The new protocol was in force last week, when the Holy Father met with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri, who was accompanied to the formal reception by his third wife, Juliana Awada.
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