Laura Fernández invites Leo XIV to visit Costa Rica during their meeting at the Vatican.
Vatican City, Oct 29
Costa Rican President Laura Fernández Delgado invited Pope Leo XIV to visit her country on Thursday, which has not received a pope in over 40 years. The invitation was extended during an audience with the pontiff at the Vatican, where they also discussed issues related to drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as migration.
“The Holy Father and I took the opportunity to discuss our interest in receiving him in Costa Rica. The last time a pope visited Costa Rica was in 1983, more than 40 years ago. We believe that, for a Catholic country with a constitution that establishes Catholicism as the official religion of the State, it is of great importance to receive the Holy Father on national soil,” Fernández Delgado told EFE.
The Costa Rican president declared herself “immensely moved and grateful” for the “unique opportunity” to be received by the pope in a meeting that also resulted in an agreement to strengthen relations between the Holy See and Costa Rica.
Fernández also conveyed to the Pope “the importance of continuing to pray for the challenges we face, especially regarding security, drug trafficking and terrorism, and migration issues.”
Furthermore, the president told the Pope that “all of Costa Rica” has been praying for him and closely following his health after he underwent surgery on October 13 for a lung adenocarcinoma.
“I got the impression that the Pope is in very good health. We had a long, very pleasant conversation, with a warm, affectionate, and very respectful manner. I also got the impression that he is fully recovered; it seems incredible that he just underwent a medical procedure. So, thank goodness and thanks be to God that we have a Holy Father for a long time to come,” Fernández told EFE.
During her visit to the Holy See, the President of Costa Rica, after meeting with Leo XIV, met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and with the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Paul Richard Gallagher.
Following her agenda at the Vatican, Laura Fernández will meet this afternoon in Rome with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, with whom she plans to discuss security issues affecting Costa Rica and Italy.
The Costa Rican president wants to promote “a bilateral agreement to strengthen intelligence in security matters, including the fight against drug trafficking, smuggling, and illicit trade, among other scourges, where Italy and Costa Rica can exchange experiences and strengthen cooperation,” she explained.
Fernández will also meet with business groups in Rome and participate in an event of the Italo-Latin Cooperation Institute “to also strengthen the cooperation projects we manage with Italy and with our country.”
