Pope in Romania / Pope Francis welcomed to Cotroceni Palace with military honours

Pope Francis was welcomed at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Friday with full military honours by Romania's President Klaus Iohannis at a ceremony held on the Marinescu Plateau. Iohannis alongside his wife, Carmen, welcomed Pope Francis. The welcoming delegation comprised all presidential and state advisers. "It is a beautiful day, an important day," Iohannis said before the arrival of the Pontiff. The Pope was greeted on the ceremony plateau by a group of children and young people from the National Council of Students, the National Alliance of Romanian Students, the Romanian Youth Council, the Concordia School, the Cantus Mundi and Madrigal choirs, the Romanian National Deaf Association, who waved Romanian flags. Pope Francis hailed the guard of honor in Romanian. Along the way from the Henri Coanda Airport to Cotroceni Palace, Pope Francis was greeted by thousands of people who waited for the official motorcade. At some point, he opened the windows of the car, a Dacia Logan, to greet back. After the official welcoming at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, Iohannis and Francis will have one-on-one talks. Also at Cotroceni Place the Pope will meet Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, state officials, leaders of the civil society and member of the diplomatic corps. Iohannis and the Pope will then deliver speeches. Under the heading "Let's Go Together!", Pope Francis's state, pastoral and ecumenical visit to Romania includes, on the first day, meetings with political and civil society leaders, with the leadership of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church and the Divine Liturgy at the St Joseph Cathedral. On Saturday, Francis will go to the Marian Shrine at Sumuleu-Ciuc and visit the Saint Queen Mary Cathedral in Iasi. On Sunday, the apostolic visit ends with a celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Blaj's Freedom Plains with the beatification of the seven Greek-Catholic martyrs. After that, the Pope has scheduled an appointment for almost an hour with representatives of the local Roma minority. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)