Pope meets Belgian king, French premier
October 12, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI met with Belgium's King Albert II and Queen Paola, and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, in separate private audiences on October 10. Both European leaders were in Rome for the next day's canonization ceremonies.
In his meeting with King Albert, the Pope spoke of international affairs and human rights, particularly in Africa, the Vatican announced after the audience. King Albert was to attend the canonization of the Belgian missionary priest, Blessed Jozef Damian de Veuster-- better known as Damian of Molokai-- on Sunday.
With Francois Fillon, the Pontiff spoke of the situations in Africa and the Middle East, and the influence of the papal encyclical Caritas in Veritate on international financial affairs, as well as Church-state relations in France itself. Fillon was to attend the canonization of the French nun, Blessed Jeanne Jugan.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
