President Marie Louise Colerio-Preca, Malta’s Head of State, has met up with Pope Francis in Rome in the final weeks of her presidential term.

During the meeting, they discussed a variety of current issues such as the importance of peace building. The president also presented a number of gifts to Pope Francis.

She gave him an icon of St Peter and St Paul, as well as a a number of local products from Malta and Gozo including qagħaq tal-għasel. They also spoke about interfaith dialogue and the President presented the Pope with a copy of the First National Interfaith Declaration signed by Maltese faith leaders.

The meeting forms part of a local tradition for the Maltese Head of State as they approach the end of their term

Previous presidents had also called on His Holiness during the final months of their presidency.

Pope Francis is known to be one of the people who inspire President Marie Louise Coleiro-Preca in her daily work, and this is the third time the President has met Pope Francis.

During her visit to Rome, the President also met up with the Maltese community in Rome, as well as humanity-based groups

President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, together with representatives of the President’s Trust Foundation, met with Chief Executive Officer of The Humanity 2.0 Lab Morad Fareed.

Humanity 2.0 Lab’s mission is to contribute to the maximisation of human potential through optimising one’s environment to enhance human health and wellness focused particularly on key developmental periods in a human life.

Together with the President’s Trust Foundation, the Humanity 2.0 Lab is to work on a collaborative project which will target maternal health—as an important determinant of human health—later on this year.

“I am convinced that this project, which will once again be a celebration of effective synergy, which is now synonymous with all the 11 social projects of the President’s Trust Foundation, will reap positive outcomes for the benefit of all mothers and children, in Malta, in the Mediterranean region, in the European Union, and beyond”, President Coleiro Preca said.

A memorandum of understanding between The President’s Trust Foundation and The Humanity 2.0 Lab is expected to be signed in the very near future.

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]