Pope Francis receives Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar
(Vatican Radio) Today Pope Francis met with Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar.The Holy See Press Office provides the following details of the meeting:
Today at 11 a.m., in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in a private audience Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, president of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza provided information to the Holy Father on her many activities in the fields of educational and social development, at both national and international levels, and on the grave situation of schools in various areas of conflict, and received his encouragement.
The encounter, was cordial in nature and lasted for around 30 minutes. The gift offered by Her Highness to the Holy Father was a valuable Arab manuscript of the Gospels, richly decorated and composed of 123 pages in Naskh calligraphy, produced in Ottoman Turkey in the 18th century.
The Pope presented Her Highness with a medallion depicting the olive tree of peace and the Arabic edition of his encyclical Laudato si’.
Subsequently, at the Secretariat of State, Her Highness met with Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of State, accompanied by Msgr. Michael F. Crotty. Their discussions focused on the situation of the Catholic community in Qatar.
Finally, in the so-called “Raphael Wing” of the Apostolic Palace, Her Highness attended the signing of an Agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development on behalf of the Qatar National Library. The Agreement was signed for the Qatar Foundation by His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al Kuwari and for the Apostolic Library by the Prefect, Msgr. Cesare Pasini.