French President Emmanuel Macron has met the new Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican for the first time.
The President and his wife Brigitte were received today at the Apostolic Palace, where he held a private meeting with the Pope for about an hour.
Macron gave the Pope, a sports fan, a signed jersey from the French national basketball team, a facsimile of the map drawn by the 17th-century French missionary Jacques Marquette, a collection of writings by Georges Bernanos and the official book on the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The details of the discussions were not immediately disclosed, but according to the Élysée Palace, Macron’s main aim was to discuss “resolving the crisis in the Middle East”.
The President and the Supreme Pontiff are aligned on many international questions, including the situation in the Middle East and their support with Lebanon. Both have hardened their tone towards US President Donald Trump and urged that the current ceasefire between the US and Iran be turned into a lasting diplomatic solution.
Macron is expected to take the opportunity to invite the Chicago-born Pope – a Francophile and French speaker – to visit France in the near future, having previously failed to persuade his predecessor Francis to make an official state visit.
When he asked then-Pope Francis to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2024, his invitation was turned down.
