Vatican City, 5 February 2014 (VIS) –
On 3 April Pope Francis will receive in audience Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. This was made public by Buckingham Palace and confirmed
yesterday afternoon by the Holy See Press Office.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by
Prince Philip of Edinburgh, will be in Rome upon invitation by the
president of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The Queen and
Prince Philip will lunch in private with President Napolitano, and
will then be received in audience by the Pope. It will be the first
encounter between Pope Francis and the Queen, as at the Holy Mass at
the beginning of his pontificate the United Kingdom was represented
by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. President Napolitano's
invitation was first presented last year, but neither the Queen nor
Prince Philip were able to accept for reasons of ill health. Since
then, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy and Pope
Francis was elected.
The Italian Head of State renewed his
invitation earlier this year and Queen Elizabeth decided to take the
opportunity to meet with the new Pontiff. The same occurred on her
last visit to Rome, in 2000, when she was received by Blessed John
Paul II. The Queen met with Benedict XVI during his apostolic visit
to the United Kingdom in September 2010.
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