Pope and Chilean president discuss “painful scourge of abuse of minors”

Pope Francis on Saturday received in private audience in the Vatican President Sebastián Piñera Echenique of Chile.  Piñera later held a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Galagher.

A Holy See Press office statement said that during the “cordial discussions, satisfaction was expressed for the existing good relations between the Holy See and Chile.”  

The two sides “then went on to consider the situation of the country, with particular reference to the defence of life and the painful scourge of abuse of minors, reiterating the effort of all in collaboration to combat and prevent the perpetration of such crimes and their concealment.”  

The Holy See and Chile also discussed “matters of common interest at international and regional level, with special reference to the reception of migrants.”