Vatican City, Oct 8, 2010 / 08:56 am
Peace efforts in the Middle East, the current economy and the desire to maintain permanent dialogue between France and the Holy See were the subject of a meeting held between Pope Benedict XVI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Vatican on Friday morning.
A communique from the Vatican Press Office announced on Oct. 8 that both the French president and the Pope engaged in a “cordial discussion” which touched on various topics, including the role of Christians in various countries and the task of getting a broader swath of countries involved in multilateral organizations.
The two also addressed the “ethical and social dimension” of economic problems, in the light of the Pontiff's encyclical, “Caritas in veritate.”
“Having then recalled His Holiness' apostolic trip to Lourdes and Paris in 2008, and President Sarkozy's visit to the Vatican of the preceding year, the two men reiterated their joint desire to maintain permanent dialogue at various institutional levels, and to continue constructive collaboration on matters of mutual interest,” the statement read.