Alain Berset and his wife Muriel Zeender Berset pass Swiss Guards in the Vatican on Thursday.
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Alain Berset had a short private audience on Thursday morning with Pope Francis in the Vatican, for a conversation largely focussed on peace promotion efforts.
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Among the gifts brought to the Pontiff by Berset was a copy of the Swiss meteorological bulletin of July 29, 1921, a day of such unusual heat in Geneva that it inspire the book “Présence de la mort” by the Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. “What was once unusual is now the normality,” reads the note accompanying the gift.
The audience at the Vatican, which began at 8.20 am, lasted about twenty minutes, Italian news agency Ansa reported. Among the gifts from the Pope to Berset were a bronze work entitled “Social Love”, depicting a child helping another to stand up, with the inscription “Amare Aiutare” (“The Love of Helping”) and the Message for Peace of this year.
With the Pontiff, Berset discussed in particular how Switzerland and the Vatican can support peace efforts in Colombia and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the Swiss interior ministry wrote.
The exchange of views on the DRC and Colombia follows talks that Berset held with Church representatives during his trips to Africa and South America in August. Among other things, Switzerland is a guarantor of the peace talks in Colombia between the Colombian government and the rebel group “Estado Mayor Central de las FARC-EP” (EMC), the interior ministry said in recent days.
Other important topics of discussion in the Vatican included the investigation of abuse cases in the Catholic Church in Switzerland, the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the upcoming UN climate change conference in Dubai.
Berset had been scheduled to visit the Vatican in May, but had to postpone due to the coronation of Charles III in London.
Berset will also visit the Swiss Guard and meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State at the Vatican. After the meeting, Berset will travel to Paris to attend a peace conference.
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