Pope Francis & French Prez Macron discuss climate change, Middle East situation at Vatican

French President Emmanuel Macron had a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, November 26. During the meeting, they shared views on the future of Europe and the consequences of the COP26 environmental summit in Glasgow in November. Taking to Twitter, the French President shared a picture from his meeting with Pope Francis and informed that they had discussions over biodiversity, vaccines and crisis in Lebanon. 

French President Emmanuel Macron meets Pope Francis

French President Emmanuel Macron also held meetings with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, head of the Vatican’s Secretary of State and Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States. Macron discussed international issues, including the efforts for the environment after the recently concluded COP26 summit in Glasgow, according to the Vatican statement. During the meeting, Pope Francis and Emmanuel Macron also exchanged views on the French Presidential elections. Both sides also exchanged views on France’s commitment towards Lebanon, the Middle East and Africa. The French President gifted two books on the life of St Ignatius of Loyola to Pope Francis. 

“In the course of the talks, a number of international issues were discussed, including environmental protection in the light of the outcome of the recent COP26 in Glasgow. There was also an exchange of views on the prospects for the forthcoming French Presidency of the European Union, as well as France’s commitment in Lebanon, the Middle East and Africa,” the Vatican said in a statement. 

The meeting between the French President and the pontiff comes at a time when the Catholic Church faces controversy over clergy abuse, reported Regional News Service. Reportedly, the French bishop issued a report on October 5 that has claimed that around 3000 members of the clergy had sexually abused 216,000 minors between 1950 to 2020. As per the Regional News Service report, Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, leader of the French bishops' conference, stated that the revelation of the report had led to “shame and horror” in the church. French bishops addressed the report about the sexual abuse at the conference held from 2 November to 8 November. The French Bishop also highlighted that steps would be taken to stop such actions in future. 

Image: Twitter/@EmmanuelMacron