Pope Francis accepts invitation to visit Czech Republic

Pope Francis has accepted an invitation from President Miloš Zeman to visit the Czech Republic. The Czech head of state, who was granted an audience by the Holy Father in the Vatican on Friday, said the date of the visit has yet to be set but should take place by the spring of 2018, before the end of his first term in office. The Czech president expressed great admiration for the Pope’s leadership of the Catholic Church saying that the Holy Father’s philosophy reflected his own beliefs. Mr. Zeman brought the Pope a copy of the famous Infant Jesus of Prague, a wax statuette made in Spain in the 16th century which is highly revered particularly in the Hispanic world, where Pope Francis comes from.