Czech president received by Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV received Czech President Petr Pavel and First Lady Eva Pavlová in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday morning. The presidential couple later met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Topics on the agenda included Russia’s war in Ukraine, relations between Europe and the United States, global challenges, and sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

This was President Pavel’s first visit to the papal residence since the election of the new pontiff last year. He planned to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit Czechia, a trip no pope has made since Benedict XVI in 2009.