Moldovan PM attends events occasioned by visit of Pope Francis to Iasi, Romania
15:31 | 02.06.2019 Category: Official
Chisinau, 2 June /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Pavel Filip on 1 June paid a visit to Iasi, Romania, where he attended the events occasioned by the apostolic travel by His Holiness Pope Francis. The PM was accompanied by Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Tudor Ulianovschi and Education, Culture and Research Minister Monica Babuc, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.
The prime minister shook hands with Pope Francis, noting that he was honoured to be among the friends who had come to welcome the Pope. ‘’The visit by His Holiness Pope Francis, held with the title Let’s Walk Together, is a historical one and much expected by tens of thousands of people and the message of the Holy Father on the promotion of unity, understanding and love between people is of special importance in the contemporary world,’’ Pavel Filip said.
The prime minister thanked also for the humanitarian involvement of the Roman Catholic Church from Moldova, including through the Caritas-Moldova charity mission and Regina Pacis Foundation.
Despite the orange code of bad weather, more than 150,000 pilgrims assembled on market, willing to see Pope Francis, who gave an emotional speech, in which he urged people to show love, unity and not forget their roots.
In the last years, the high-level dialogue between Moldova’s authorities and the Holy See has been boosted. In September 2018, Secretary of State of the Holy See, His Eminence, Cardinal Pietro Parolin paid a visit to Chisinau.
The apostolic travel to Romania by Pope Francis takes place 20 years following a visit to this country by Pope John Paul II in 1999.