Pope Francis is keeping a busy schedule which included meeting with two presidents in the same day. In the morning he received the president of Bulgaria, Rumen Georgiv Radev.
The small European country has held diplomatic relations with the Holy See since 1990.
After meeting privately with the Pope, he gave him this Marian icon handmade in Bulgaria.
While Pope Francis gave him his message of peace along with this mosaic.
-'It's a mosaic made by our workers'.
-'It's the shape of St. Peter's and you can even see the dome'.
-'And this is an entire library'.
-'When you can't sleep just take one and then you'll fall asleep immediately'.
Later in the day he met with the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski. The country has held diplomatic ties with the Holy See since 1994.
In 2017 Macedonia reported some 15,000 Catholics, comprising less that 1% of the population, since most Macedonians belong to the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The President gave the Pope this icon made of semi-precious stone, books, and this jersey of the country's national soccer team.
-'It says Pope Francis'.
-'It is written in Cyrillic'.
-'The President asks His Holiness to add Macedonia to his prayers during the European Championships this summer'.
In return the Pope gave him this mosaic of St. Peter's featuring the dome of the basilica, as well as the significant texts of his pontificate.
Daniel Díaz Vizzi
TR: Justin McLellan
RR
