Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila will pay a visit to the Vatican from May 10 to May 13.

On Friday, May 11, Dancila will be received in audience by His Holiness Pope Francis, and then will have a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, State Secretary of His Holiness, according to a press release from the Romanian Government.

She will also have a meeting with the Grand Master of the Malta Sovereign Order, Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, and with the President of the Sant'Egidio Community, Marco Impagliazzo. The visit’s agenda also includes a meeting with Romanian students at the Pontifical universities.

“The visit of the prime minister of Romania to the Vatican takes place amid good bilateral relations, in celebration of the Centenary of the Great Union of Romania, which will be celebrated by the Holy See through a series of cultural and academic events,” reads the government’s press release.

Pope Francis is also expected to visit Romania this year. He received official invitations from the Romanian Presidency and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in 2017.

President Klaus Iohannis said in late March last year that he believes that His Holiness Pope Francis will come to Romania in 2018. Present in Rome for the special summit marking 60 years since the Treaty of Rome was signed, Iohannis and other EU leaders were received in an audience by Pope Francis. That was when the Romanian President invited His Holiness to Romania once again.

If he decides to come to Romania, Pope Francis would be the second pontiff to visit the country after Pope John Paul II’s visit in May 1999.

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Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com