Lula meets Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican

Lula arrived in Rome this Sunday (12) to take part in the opening of the 2025 World Food Forum, the main annual event of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The president’s visit marks the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the FAO’s creation and comes at a symbolic moment, months after Brazil’s exit from the Hunger Map, according to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2025) report released in July. On Monday (13), still at the FAO headquarters, President Lula will conclude the Second Meeting of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. He will inaugurate the space that will host the Alliance’s Support Mechanism, which will function as the secretariat of the initiative. Speaking to journalists last Wednesday (8), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ General Coordinator for Food Security and Nutrition, Minister Saulo Arantes Ceolin, stated that Lula’s presence at the events reinforces the historical and strategic relationship between Brazil and the FAO. ‘The main objective of the trip is this: to honor the Forum and, above all, celebrate the organization’s anniversary, which is so important and with which Brazil has maintained a robust relationship for decades,’ Ceolin said. This is the first time Lula is meeting with Pope Leo XIV, successor to Pope Francis. The meeting between the two leaders had been arranged by the Brazilian government in recent days. According to Itamaraty sources, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira spoke with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, twice by phone during the last week. The meeting between Lula and Pope Leo XIV was also coordinated with the Brazilian Embassy in Italy with the Holy See.