Pope Francis received the President of Peru, Dina Boluarte Zegarra, in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican on 14 October, Saturday, to discuss diplomatic relations, the phenomenon of migration, and climate change.
After about 25 minutes of the audience, Boluarte met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, in the company of Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, who is the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.
According to the Press Office of the Holy See, “during the cordial discussions at the Secretariat of State, satisfaction was expressed for the good relations between Peru and the Holy See, underlining the positive collaboration between the Church and the State in view of “the promotion of moral values, the common good, dialogue and the construction of social peace.”
It also specifies that “an exchange of points of view has been carried out on the socio-political situation of the region, with particular attention to the phenomenon of migration and the impact of climate change.”
After the audience with the Pope, there was an exchange of gifts. Pope Francis gave Boluarte a bronze mold representing a flower in the process of growth, with the inscription “Peace is a fragile flower.”
He also gave him several papal documents, including this year’s Message for Peace, the Document on Human Fraternity and a book on the Statio Orbis of March 27, 2020, published by LEV.
For her part, Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra presented the Pope with a Peruvian silver tray, an image of the Holy Family and some typical Peruvian sweets as gifts.