A year after their last meeting, they see each other again. Emmanuel Macron will meet Pope Francis on October 24 in Rome, where he must also participate in an international forum on peace, the Elysée announced on Tuesday, confirming information from diplomatic sources and from the Sant’Egidio community.
The French President will be received in private audience by the Pope at the Vatican, the day after his participation in this inter-religious summit organized by this Italian Catholic community known to be one of the channels of the “shadow diplomacy” of the Holy See.
This will be the third visit of the Head of State to Pope Francis, after those of November 26, 2021 and June 26, 2018, said the French presidency.
Planned meeting with the Italian President
Emmanuel Macron will also meet his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella during a private dinner, in the context of the formation of the new government led by Giorgia Meloni, president of the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia, which won the legislative elections of September 25, we learned from concordant sources.
The lay community of Sant’Egidio confirmed on Tuesday the presence of the French president at the opening of its annual international meeting in the presence of political and religious leaders from all over the world.
This meeting, entitled “The Cry of Peace” and which will address the war in Ukraine in particular, will end with a rally on October 25 at the Colosseum in which Pope Francis will participate, said Sant’Egidio.
An international mediation forum
Nicknamed “the little UN of Trastevere” (from the name of the district of Rome where it is located), Sant’Egidio, founded in 1968 by Catholic students around Andrea Riccardi, has become over the years an expert in peace negotiations. and in international mediation.
“Peace and the urgency of building it, as well as the environmental and humanitarian crisis, with thousands of refugees forced to leave their lands, will be the themes addressed” during the 36th edition of this meeting, Sant’Egidio said in a statement.
“We know, from the daily experience of the work of our community in many parts of the world, that the desire for peace exists, is strong between peoples, but is often not listened to,” said its president Marco Impagliazzo on Tuesday. at a press conference in Rome.