Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth to Meet at the Vatican - East Idaho News
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Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth to Meet at the Vatican

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GETTY 4314 QueenElizabeth?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1396527005923Chris Jackson/Getty Images(VATICAN CITY) — Two of the world’s most famous and powerful leaders are meeting in Rome Thursday, when Queen Elizabeth meets Pope Francis in a private audience for the first time.

As a pair, they are leaders to billions of people around the world.

“If you think about it in terms of soft power then we’re talking about three billion people because the pope is the spiritual head of more than one billion Catholics around the world, and the queen of course is head of the Commonwealth and that’s two billion people,” said the Italian author and journalist Barbara Serra.

This is the fifth time Queen Elizabeth II has met a pope in Rome, but this will be her most informal visit ever.

By mutual request the meeting will be relaxed and “protocol-light,” taking place in the pope’s study inside the 1970’s built Paul VI Hall, close to where he lives at the Vatican.

The protocols of this visit are markedly different to a state visit, which would normally see such a meeting take place inside the Apostolic Palace.

On previous trips to meet a pope, the queen, who is also the supreme guardian of the Church of England, has worn black. This time she will not.

The only people present for this meeting will be Pope Francis, Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh and a translator. Pope Francis speaks only “passive English” and is expected to communicate in either Italian or Spanish via a translator.

The meeting with Pope Francis marks the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. Historically though, the Church of England has difficult relations with the Vatican, as a break-away from the Roman Catholic Church.

Serra says Queen Elizabeth, who is 87, and Pope Francis, who is 77, are both charged with modernizing some of the world’s oldest institutions. Serra says “that will probably be quite an interesting exchange between the two. I think the queen has managed to do that (modernize) here in the U.K. I’m not sure the pope has had the chance to do it yet.”

The queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, touched down at Ciampino airport at 12:35 p.m. local time in a private jet. They will be on the ground in Italy for less than five hours before returning to the U.K.

It is increasingly rare for the queen to travel abroad. In fact, this is her first foreign trip in three years.

The trip to Italy was planned for 2013, to meet the octogenarian President Giorgio Napolitano, who is said to have a friendly relationship with the British monarch. That trip was cancelled due to the queen’s ill-health before being reinstated this year.

Thursday’s tour will commence with a private lunch at the president’s official home, known as the Quirinal Palace. There will be a group of 10 people seated for lunch, including the president and his wife, the queen and Duke of Edinburgh, along with the Italian Ambassador to the U.K. and his wife, the U.K. Ambassador to Italy and his wife, and other senior level diplomats.

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

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