After private audience with Pope Francis, PM Dancila voices hope Pope will come to Romania

Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Friday had a private audience with Pope Francis, whom she thanked for his generous attention he has always given to relations with Romania, and expressed hope that the Pope will come on a pastoral visit to Romania.

"During the audience, we also discussed the desire to increase the Romanian presence in the Vatican through a series of high cultural, academic and religious events, given that this year is a special one, celebrating the centennial of the modern Romanian state. The high-ranking official thanked for Pope's making available the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo for mounting the exhibition 'Treasures of Romania at the Vatican,' according to a press statement released by the Romanian Government.

Dancila also stressed the importance of Romania and the Vatican deepening the their relationship, including in the special context of Romania's tenure at the head of the EU Council "which will offer the possibility of conveying a message to the whole of Europe, given the ecumenical vocation of Romania."

"The conversation highlighted the similarity of Romania and the Vatican's positions on the consolidation of the European design and the centrality of reporting to the design's Christian roots."

According to the government, the audience also revealed the congruent views held Romania and the Holy See on a number of world affairs, especially in the field of human rights protection and freedom of religion. AGERPRES (RO - author: Madalina Cerban, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)