Admin I Saturday, March 02, 2024
ROME, Italy – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to journalists after a meeting with Pope Francis. The head of more than 1.4 billion Catholics welcomed the SPD politician to the Apostolic Palace.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Pope Francis in the Vatican on Saturday for his first private audience with the head of the Catholic Church.
By Christoph Sator and Robert Messer, dpa
The two leaders talked for around 30 minutes in the Apostolic Palace. Topics included the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the response to migration, Scholz said.
Scholz later spoke of an “important conversation at a time when it crucial for us to look to the future with a clear view and have clear principles.” He added: “For me personally also, an important, meaningful conversation.”
The two exchanged gifts. For his part, Scholz presented the pope with the official ball of the Euro 2024 football championship, which will be held in Germany, as well as a porcelain bear bearing the German coat of arms.
It was the chancellor’s first longer meeting with the 87-year-old pontiff. However, the two had previously met early last year, at the funeral of former pope Benedict XVI, who was born in southern Germany and spent much of his career as a priest, theologian and archbishop there.
Scholz arrived in Rome on Friday for a two-day visit and met Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The chancellor will not meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is currently on a visit to the United States.
On Saturday afternoon, Scholz was due to attend the congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Rome, where the group’s lead candidate is to be selected for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.
The only candidate for the role is European Commissioner for Jobs Nicolas Schmit, of Luxembourg.
