Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is expected to meet Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican City in Rome this morning.

The Prime Minister, who will be accompanied by Mrs Kate Gonzi, will be meeting His Holiness for a private audience. This is the first official meeting between Dr Gonzi and Pope Benedict, although he and President Edward Fenech Adami attended the Pope’s inaugural Mass.

Dr Gonzi is expected to arrive at the Cortile San Domaso at 10.45am, where he will be welcomed by the Prefect of the Pontifical Household, Bishop James Michael Harvey. Dr and Mrs Gonzi will be escorted by Mgr Harvey through the Vatican Palace to the Pope’s library where they will be received by the Holy Father.

Following the private audience, the Pope and Dr Gonzi will exchange gifts to mark the occasion.

Dr Gonzi will then be joined by Foreign Minister Michael Frendo for a meeting with the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, following which Dr and Mrs Gonzi will leave through Cortile San Domaso to visit the tomb of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.

The Prime Minister arrived in Rome late yesterday afternoon. Soon after his arrival, he had a meeting at the church of Gesu Divino Maestro with Maltese clergy working in Rome, to whom he expressed his thanks for the sterling work they do.

The Prime Minister will arrive back in Malta this afternoon, in time for Archbishop Joseph Mercieca’s Thanksgiving Mass that will bring to an end his 30-year pontificate.