Pope Leo will visit the Quirinale Palace on Tuesday, where he will meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, reciprocating the Head of State’s visit to the Vatican in June.
By Vatican News
Following his first audience with the Italian President in the Vatican on 6 June, Pope Leo XIV and Sergio Matarella will meet again on Tuesday, 14 October, when the Holy Father pays an official visit to the Quirinal Palace in Rome. The upcoming meeting was announced by the Holy See Press Office, on Saturday.
This will be the third meeting between Pope Leo and President Mattarella, who attended the inaugural Mass of the pontificate on 18 May and then greeted the Pope in the Vatican Basilica at the conclusion of the celebration. Ten days earlier, on the occasion of the election of the Pope on 8 May, Mattarella had sent his “fervent good wishes,” affirming the Italian Republic’s commitment “to promoting a vision of the world and of coexistence among peoples founded on peace, the guarantee of inviolable rights, dignity, and freedom for all people.”
The last time a Pope visited the Quirinale was on 10 June 2017, when Francis visited Sergio Mattarella following his re-election for a second term as President. On that occasion, the Argentine Pontiff met with approximately 200 elementary and middle school students from the earthquake-stricken areas of Lazio, Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, and Emilia-Romagna. The first papal visit to the Quirinale, once the residence of the Pontiffs, dates back to 28 December 1939; Pope Pius XII reciprocated an official meeting in the Vatican with the sovereigns of Italy.
