Pope Francis arrived at the G7 Summit venue in the southeastern part of Italy by helicopter.
Once in the region of Puglia, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, greeted him. Together they rode in a golf cart to the resort where this international meeting took place, involving the world's wealthiest democracies where Italy currently holds the presidency.
Because of this, Pope Francis' first bilateral meeting at the G7 was with Meloni, who gave the Pope these details of the area with a unique gift.
They are all rosaries made by women from the area with nuts from cherries. All natural products.
Important world figures, such as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, also passed through the room with the Pope.
He also met with Ukrainian President Zelenski, who thanked the Pope for seeing him again and for his requests and prayers for peace in Ukraine. And the Pope responded by thanking him for a special visit he made in December 2023.
I would like to first thank you for going to my homeland.
Other meetings also included with the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister of Canada.
But these were only the meetings in the morning. Afterwards, Pope Francis delivered his speech at the summit and greeted politicians such as the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, and the President of Turkey. Following the G7 round table, he held private meetings with them.
CA
TR: KG