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President to meet the Pope next week
View(s):President Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit the Vatican next week for an audience with Pope Francis, his office said. The President is expected to return today after attending the UN General Assembly sessions in New York. He will then travel to the Vatican and call on Pope Francis to discuss his visit to Sri Lanka in January. A papal visit has already been confirmed for January with the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka having made the announcement earlier this month. While here, Pope Francis is to canonise Blessed Joseph Vaz as Sri Lanka’s first saint.
The date for the President’s audience with the Pope id yet to be finalised. A spokesman said the meeting is likely to take place on October 2 or 3.
United National Party MPs, John Amaratunga and Rosy Senanayake, have been invited to accompany President Rajapaksa on his visit.
Mr. Amaratunga said he was waiting for a confirmation of the dates and he intended to go on the visit. Ms. Senanayake also said she would accept the invitation. “I don’t know how we were nominated but I think it is because we are Christians,” she said.