Pope receives Maltese president, Argentina’s human rights activist

24 June, 2013 - The president of Malta, Joseph Muscat on Monday paid a visit to the Vatican, during which he held private talks with Pope Francis and met Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone along with Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti. The Vatican said during the cordial talks the two sides recalled the apostolic origins of the Maltese Church and the decisive mark left by Christianity in Maltese history and culture. Recalling the visits to Malta by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI that have remained deep in the memory of the Church and the population, the Holy See and Malta reaffirmed the need to maintain strong Christian values, recalling the important role of the Catholic Church through its charitable and educational institutions, which are supported by numerous accords between Malta and the Holy See, especially with regard to Church properties and teaching of Catholic religion in state and private Catholic schools. They particularly highlighted the t upcoming agreement on the civil ramifications of religious marriage. Besides these the Holy See and Malta also mentioned the important challenges and critical situations in the Mediterranean region and the role of the European Union nation, especial with regard to migration towards Europe.
Also on MOnday, Pope Francis received in private audience fellow Argentine, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his defence of human rights. The 81-year old rights activist, who is also writer, sculptor, painter and pacifist was accompanied by Felix Diaz, the chief of Argentina’s Qom indigenous people, his wife and a priest of Argentina’s Formosa Diocese, home to the Qom people. A Vatican statement said Pereez Esquivel manifested his gratitude for the audience which he considered as papal interest and support. Pérez Esquivel expressed to the Pope the difficulties of the indigenous people of Argentina and Latin America, and their preoccupation with their rights, especially regarding their land and cultural identity.