This was the strong handshake between Pope Francis and the president of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.
Once inside the pope's library, they had a small face-off to see who would sit down first.
The pope joked about the language they came up with during their brief meeting.
I speak Spanish. Together we speak “Spantuguese.”
They discussed the efforts to encourage the development and maintenance of social peace. The pope gave the president a medallion appropriate for the theme.
He removes his coat to clothe the poor.
Pope Francis gave the president some of the main letters and pastoral documents he has written, among them a special one.
This is the text of the things we discussed. It is about Human fraternity. It is also in Portuguese. It speaks about religions and how we understand them.
The president, in turn, gave Pope Francis a large painting of an Angolan woman with a baby, both of whom very happy. The pope seemed very intrigued by the painting.
The president of Angola attended the meeting with his wife, Ana Dias Lourenço, who asked the pope to pray for the country. Pope Francis concluded the meeting by thanking them for their visit.
May God preserve your wisdom. Thank you for your gift on religions. We are all brothers.
The last pope to visit Angola was Benedict XVI in 2009, 10 years ago.
Daniel Díaz Vizzi
Translation: Claudia Torres
