by Itunuoluwa Adebo
White house spokesman Sean Spicer raised the possibility Wednesday of Donald Trump meeting Pope Francis during the President’s trip to Italy in late May, while stressing nothing has been scheduled.
Spicer said “We will be reaching out to the Vatican to see if an audience with the pope can be accommodated,” “We would be honored to have an audience with his holiness.” Spokesman for the Vatican Greg Burke said Pope Francis would welcome a request for an audience and do his best to ensure it happened.
“As of the end of last week we had not had an official request for an audience but for sure we would welcome it,” Burke told AFP News, adding that he did not anticipate any schedule clashes which could prevent a meeting taking place around the period Trump is due to be in Italy.
President Trump is scheduled to participate in the G7 summit of leaders on May 26-27 in Taormina, Sicily. He is also expected to attend a NATO summit in Brussels. For a papal audience, world leaders normally give the Vatican at least several months notice, which are almost always granted if logistically possible.
In Trump’s case, the request will be coming in barely a month before he is due for the G7 summit in Sicily and after months of speculation about a possible meeting given the two men’s very different world views.
