President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his entourage met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on July 22 as part of his tour of Europe which took him to Portugal and Italy.
Akufo-Addo disclosed his visit to the Holy Land of the Roman Catholic faith in a social media post that said he paid a courtesy call on the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, on Saturday, July 22, 2023.
“On Saturday, 22nd July 2023, as part of my 4-day official visit to Italy, I paid a courtesy call on Pope Francis, the Head of the Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome and Sovereign of the Vatican City State, at the Vatican, in Rome.
“I was also taken on a tour of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences at the Vatican by its Chancellor, our fellow Ghanaian, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, who has served in this position since 2022,” parts of Akufo-Addo’s tweet read.
In a subsequent video posted by the preidency Akufo-Addo is seen being showed some materials by the Holy Father. In one of his admonishings, the Pope told Akufo-Addo about empathy and fellow feeling.
“The only time you should look down on somebody is when you want to extend a hand to lift them up,” he said through an interpreter.
Akufo-Addo also toured the Pontifical Academies of Sciences at the Vatican, which is headed by a fellow Ghanaian, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson.
Pictures of the visit showed President Akufo-Addo and other officials of the Ghana government; including, the President of Executive Secretory, Nana Bediatuo Asante.
Others were; the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey; and government representatives in Italy.
View the pictures below:
