The pope gave a warm welcome to the Uruguayan president, Tabaré Vázquez, with whom he met for 40 minutes.
Vázquez is touring four countries in Europe this week.
During their meeting, they spoke about the contributions of the Church in Uruguay, and the social and humanitarian situation of the country and the whole South American continent. Lately, Tabaré Vázquez has stated that he wanted to ask the pope to open the Vatican archives about the dictatorship in Uruguay in the 70s and 80s.
The pope gave him a copy of his three most important works, and a medallion with the following inscription: 'The desert will become a garden.â?
The ambassador was joined by his wife, his son, and his country's ambassador to the Holy See.
The pope and Vázquez said farewell, but the Uruguayan president was not done in the Vatican. He had another meeting scheduled today with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
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