MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Queen and Pope talked of the “shared roots of Christian faith”, says Vatican radio

The Queen apologizes for arriving late. Previously the couple had lunch with Italian president Napolitano

The head of the Anglican Church Queen Elizabeth II met Pope Francis on Thursday for the first time during a one-day visit to the Italian capital, Rome. The meeting in the Vatican was described as a private one and pomp and protocol were kept to a minimum. Earlier, the Queen and Prince Philip had lunch with the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, and his wife Clio at the Quirinal Palace.

 Queen Elizabeth arrived at the Vatican bearing a basket of honey, whiskey and other goodies from the royal estates, while the Argentine-born pontiff returned the courtesy with an impressive gift for eight-month old Prince George, Elizabeth's great-grandson, a stone orb topped with a sharp cross.

“It's for the ninetto”, said Francis in Italian, while the monarch replied that George “will be thrilled by that - when he's a little older.”

The papal gift was a blue, lapis lazuli orb, topped with a cross of St Edward the Confessor and around the base a dedication reading ‘Pope Francis to His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge’. The Pope also presented the Queen with a replica of a decree from the Vatican archives, dating from 1679, by which Pope Innocent XI extended the veneration of St Edward the Confessor to the Universal Church, establishing his feast day on October 9th.

The exchange of gifts capped a meeting that included 20 minutes of private talk between Elizabeth, her husband, Prince Philip, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and Francis - with communication facilitated by an interpreter. Francis did say “Welcome” in English when the royal couple arrived, about 20 minutes late for their appointment in a small room off the public audience hall.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Elizabeth told Francis. “We were having a very pleasant lunch with the president.” She was referring to Italy's head of state, Giorgio Napolitano, who, with his wife, Cleo, hosted the queen and Philip for lunch at the presidential Quirinal palace.

The white-gloved 87 year old monarch had arrived earlier in the day in Rome wearing a lilac-colored spring coat and matching hat that are practically the same colors of the wisteria blooming over much of the Italian capital. Previously, Elizabeth had met with four pontiffs, starting with Pius XII in 1951, a year before her accession to the throne.
There was no immediate statement on what was discussed in the meeting with Francis, who is now in his second year as pontiff.

A few lines from the Vatican radio pointed out that “focus on the shared roots of Christian faith was a theme which emerged from the meeting Pope Francis had with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip on Thursday afternoon”.

Elizabeth told the pope that the jar of honey in the wicker picnic hamper “is from my garden” at Buckingham Palace. “I hope that is unusual for you.”

Francis looked startled when the prince at one point held up a bottle of Balmoral whiskey, from the royal estate in Scotland. Among the goodies were a bottle of cider and a dozen eggs.

Despite speculations in Buenos Aires since the meeting took place a day after the anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands/Malvinas war, 2 April 1982 between invading Argentine troops and the UK, the Queen's day in Rome was described as “a makeup visit”. Illness had forced her to cancel a 2013 trip to Rome when she was supposed to see Napolitano.

“She doesn't like leaving obligations unfulfilled so she was determined to reinstate that visit,” Britain's ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, told Vatican Radio.

According to the report from the Vatican radio, “Elizabeth II visited the Vatican twice, in 1961 to meet Pope John XXIII and on 2000 to meet John Paul II” and pointed out that also attending the private encounter in a small study beside the Paul VI hall was Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, former archbishop of Westminster and the first Catholic bishop to preach for the Royal Family since the Church of England broke from Rome in the 16th century.

It was a far cry from the first time Princess Elizabeth met with a Pope, Pius XII, in 1951, the year before she became queen. On that occasion, and her meeting a few years later with Pope John XXIII, she was dressed in full length black with a long veil. Even her more recent meetings with Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XII have been quite formal affairs, but on this occasion, Buckingham Palace had requested a relaxed, informal encounter to follow on from her luncheon with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

Those who followed Pope Benedict’s state visit to Britain in 2010 will recall one of the most moving moments of his three day trip was in Westminster Abbey where he and the then Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams knelt side by side in prayer at the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, who died in 1066. Together the Anglican and Catholic leaders prayed for Church and country but also for the gift of reconciliation and unity.