Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he had canceled a planned trip to Rome and Vatican during which he was due to meet Pope Francis, because he is sick with flu. Analysts believe the 'diplomatic' flu spell could be linked to protests in Rome and the Vatican bringing up the issue of political prisoners, following on several letters sent to the Holy See.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was received on Sunday in the Vatican by Pope Francis for an encounter that lasted almost two hours, in the fifth meeting between the pontiff and head of state since the ex-Buenos Aires archbishop was elected to the Holy See. The meeting however was not without criticism from Buenos Aires.
The long influential shadow of Buenos Aires born Pope Francis was again present on Monday 25 May at two significant religious and official ceremonies, calling for responsible leadership and an end to political bickering.
Pope Francis has spoken out against the problem of violence in football, criticizing the role of hooligan groups within the game while admitting that he felt used by certain politicians in Argentina.
Pope Francis has sent a letter to President Cristina Fernández to mark festivities for May week, during which Argentina commemorates the formation of the First Patriotic Government on 25 May 1810.
Two 19th-century nuns on Sunday became the first Palestinians to gain sainthood during an open-air mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St Peter's Square attended by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
The Vatican concluded its first treaty that formally recognizes the State of Palestine, with an agreement on Catholic Church activities in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, the Holy See said on Wednesday.
Cuban President Raul Castro has praised Pope Francis for brokering the restoration of relations between Cuba and the US, announced in December. At the end of a Sunday audience at the Vatican, Castro said he had thanked the Pope for his contribution for the historic rapprochement.
Pope Francis and Cuban President Raul Castro will meet privately on Sunday at the Vatican, a spokesman said, four months before the pontiff's trip to the Caribbean island, his first as leader of the Catholic Church.
After meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican on Tuesday, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, told his two million Twitter followers that the pontiff had spoken enthusiastically about his coming visit to the country and had even told him a self-deprecating joke about the Argentines.