Pope Leo XIV receives Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

In private audience

Pope Leo XIV received Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, in private audience on Wednesday morning in the Apostolic Palace.

It was the first official meeting between the PM, who has just returned to Rome from the NATO Summit on June 24–25 in The Hague, focused on military spending, and the Pope, who on the same day was engaged in a full schedule of audiences, including with Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle and Paul Emil Tscherrig, the members of the IOR's Commission of Cardinals; the bishops of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and Emine Erdoğan, wife of the President of Turkey.

According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, Meloni subsequently met with Cardinal Piero Parolin, Secretary of State, who was accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations.

“During the cordial talks held at the Secretariat of State, the good existing relations between the Holy See and Italy were highlighted, and the joint commitment to peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, and humanitarian aid in Gaza, were evoked,” the statement said.

The conversation continued with a discussion on a number of questions pertaining to bilateral relations, as well as topics of interest for the Church and Italian society.