Pope Francis and President Trump Meet in Vatican City Despite Past Conflict

During his first international trip as president, Donald Trump met with Catholic Pope Francis on May 24 as a way to promote peace, despite contrasting worldviews.

The visit started with the pope welcoming President Trump and First Lady Melania in the Vatican’s Sala del Trontetto, the room of the little throne, where the two leaders had one private 30-minute meeting.

Trump was heard saying, “It is a great honor to be here,” while the pope stood unsmiling next to him.

Pope Francis is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Compared to previous popes, Francis has been revered as groundbreaking for the religion, as he has been known to challenge certain traditional Catholic beliefs. While there are two requirements for a person to be baptized — trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and full comprehension of what baptism signifies — the Pope has been known to welcome many Catholic converts simply for the promotion of peace.

The two leaders have already clashed because of differing opinions. Pope Francis has openly expressed his criticism of Trump’s presidential campaign, which called for building a wall on the Mexican border and banning Muslim immigrants from entering the country. In response, President Trump called Pope Francis “disgraceful” for questioning his religious faith, Time reports.

So with this in mind, some media outlets are already questioning the length of their private meeting, considering President Obama’s meeting with Pope Francis lasted 50 minutes. However, Time reports that the pope had a busy day scheduled already, as he has a standing Wednesday morning general audience meeting where he greets pilgrims from around the world. In fact, there were so many visitors to the Vatican City last Wednesday that the crowd forced Trump’s motorcade to enter via a side entrance, obscuring the president from view.

After the private meeting, the two publically exchanged gifts with President Trump giving Francis a set of books written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., presented in a custom built display case. According to ABC News, in return, the Pope gave Trump a large medal inscribed with an olive branch to symbolize peace, along with three writings by Francis himself on climate change, the joy of the gospel, and family care. He additionally gifted all members of the First Family rosaries.

When he left, Trump turned to the pope and simply said, “I won’t forget what you said.”

After leaving the Eternal City, Trump was set to travel on to Brussels, Belgium for a NATO meeting.

photo c/o : CNN