Belarusian leader Lukashenko wants to meet with Pope Francis
MINSK. Dec 4 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti to pass his request of a meeting over to the pontiff and said that he is looking forward to meeting Pope Francis, the Belarusian presidential press service said on Friday.
"We will have a lot to talk about with this man whom I highly respect," Lukashenko said during the meeting with Gugerotti held on the occasion of the completion of his diplomatic mission in the country.
"You have always supported us. We and you did together a lot for establishing good ties and I suppose that in the future we will do our best in order to have my meetings with Pope held at the highest level," Lukashenko said when addressing Gugerotti.
"I respect him [the pontiff] so much. I learn information [about him] from mass media, from the trips and statements that he makes. I admire his position, to start from, on respecting the poorest layers of the population, on fighting against corruption, and the one concerning honesty and fairness. I am glad that Catholics have such a leader today," Lukashenko said.
