-'Your Holiness, I am so glad to have this opportunity with you. Thank you very much for giving us this space, Your Holiness.'
The Colombian Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marta Lucía Ramírez, met with Pope Francis at the Vatican this Saturday. She is in Rome on the occasion of the 10th Conference on Italy-Latin America and the Caribbean.
Together they discussed the major problems currently facing Colombia, such as drug trafficking. On social media, the vice president expressed her gratitude for the Pope's support on protecting migrants, caring for the environment and promoting gender equality.
In their meeting Ramírez offered the Pope a bag of special coffee, planted and produced by Colombian women. She shared that in the coffee-growing region of Colombia, 33% coffee producers are women.
To end their meeting, Pope Francis shared a message of strength and courage with the Vice President and the entire Colombian people.
The vice president took advantage of the trip to Rome to meet with Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narváez, who was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in 2017 and was released on October 9 due in large part to the Vatican's help.
BSB
TR: JM