Pope Benedict meets with Prince Albert II of Monaco
Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday met with Prince Albert II of Monaco, and his wife, Princess
Charlene. The meeting marked the 55th anniversary of the meeting of Prince Rainier
and Princess Grace of Monaco with Pope Pius XII in 1957. According to a communiqué
from the Vatican Press Office, their talks focused on the significant contribution
of the Catholic Church in the social life of the Principality and various international
issues, such as the integral development of peoples and the protection of natural
resources and the environment. The couple gave Pope Benedict a picture and book about
their ancestor, Cardinal Jerome Grimaldi, who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. The Holy Father gave the prince and princess a sanguigna, or red pencil
drawing, of St. Peter’s Basilica. Listen: