Macron and Pope Leo XIV call for Middle East dialogue

Their first encounter between the French president and the US-born pontiff at the Vatican blended warm personal moments with a sharp rebuke of 'senseless and inhuman violence' in the Middle East.

France's Macron talks war, peace and basketball with Pope Leo

Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first meeting Friday, a private audience at the Vatican where discussions ranged from the Iran war to basketball. The French leader wanted above all to discuss "the resolution of the crisis in the Middle East" with the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, a spokesman for Macron's office told reporters ahead of the meeting. FRANCE 24's Seema Gupta reports.

By FRANCE24

Middle East top of agenda as Macron meets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican

French President Emmanuel Macron met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Friday for their first official talks, with the war in the Middle East and concerns over Lebanon set to dominate the agenda.

By RFI

Macron says happy to meet pope, same convictions on peace

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 10 - French President Emmanuel Macron said on X Friday he had been happy to meet Pope Leo XIV for their first face-to-face encounter in the Vatican Friday and they shared the same convictions on peace. "Very happy to meet His Holiness Pope Leo XIV," Macron said. "We share the same conviction: in the face of divisions in the world, working for peace is a duty and an imperative. France will always be committed to dialogue, justice, and fraternity among peoples," Macron wrote....

By ANSA