VATICAN CITY, SEP 30, 2004 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received Ion Iliescu, president of Romania, on the occasion of his visit to Rome to inaugurate an exhibit this afternoon in the Vatican Museums, "Stephen the Great, Bridge between East and West."
John Paul II said that the meeting with the president allowed him to recall his visit to Romania in 1999 "with emotion and gratitude. As a pilgrim of faith and hope, I was welcomed enthusiastically by you and the authorities of the state, His Beatitude, Patriarch Teoctist and by the entire people of the venerable Romanian Orthodox Church. I received an especially fraternal embrace from the bishops and the beloved Catholic communities, of both the Byzantine and Latin rites."
The Holy Father expressed "an affectionate wish for prosperity and peace" to the president, his associates and to the entire nation of Romania.
AC/PRESIDENT ROMANIA/ILIESCU VIS 20040930 (150)
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