Colombian president meets Pope

(May 1, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday received in the Vatican President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia and the two agreed that the Church has a key role to play in helping the South American nation achieve peace. The Pope and Uribe held private talks for some 30 minutes, aided by an interpreter. The Colombian president later met Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secretary for Vatican relations with states. A Vatican communiqué said the "cordial discussions enabled a fruitful exchange of views on questions concerning the current international and regional situation." The talks also viewed certain aspects of the situation in the South American country, in particular the fight against drug trafficking, social policies aimed at improving the living conditions of the many people who still live in poverty, and collaboration between Church and state to consolidate national peace. The Catholic Church in Colombia has long spent efforts in trying to end the conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the group responsible for holding captive hundreds of prisoners in the jungles.