PM will not meet the Pope during official tour to Italy: Foreign Ministry

At no stage has the Prime Minister requested, nor has he received an invitation, to visit the Vatican for an audience with His Holiness, the Pope, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

In a press release, the Ministry said the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will shortly make a visit to Bologna, Italy, to participate in an international event which is to be graced by the Prime Minister of Italy and other dignitaries from Italy and other European countries.

“The Foreign Minister, at his briefing conducted on Monday, 6 September, clearly described the purpose of the scheduled visit. The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the opening session of the international symposium which will be held in one of Europe’s oldest seats of learning, the University of Bologna,” the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will be leaving Italy, at the conclusion of the events in Bologna.