Iranian vice president meets the Pope in Vatican

Rome, Feb 13, IRNA – Shahindokht Mowlaverdi, vice president for women and family affairs met and conferred with the leader of world Catholic Christians Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio...Francis in Vatican. The two sides in the meeting which was made on an invitation made by the Papal Council on Family Affairs on Thursday evening exchanged viewpoints on issues of mutual interest such as bilateral ties, as well as multilateral and international cooperation and the world developments. 'I was in advance informed about the Pope's innovative and up-to-date viewpoints, which is why today's meeting was both important and very memorable for me, and of course the discussed issues did were not restrictedly on women's and family affairs,' said the Iranian vice president in a press conference that was broadly attended by world media representatives. 'I appreciate the stands of His Eminence on condemning aggression and extremism and the efforts made by the Pope to resolve the crises in Syria and Iraq,' she added. On Iran's nuclear Issue and the Pope's stands on it, Mowlaverdi also appreciated the emphasis made by Pope Francis on continuation of negotiations to resolve the issue peacefully. 'The Pope believes resorting to force is not the way to resolve the crises, which is also praiseworthy,' she added. 'Some people misuse religion to commit crimes against the human being and present a distorted image of the beautiful nature if the Divine faiths, but the true followers of those religions totally disapprove of their deeds,' she said. 'There are also some other people who insult the beliefs of millions of people in the world and provide good pretests for the terrorists for committing new crimes, which is also condemned,' added Mowlaverdi. 'I spoke with the Pope on both ends of this crisis and he was agreed that taking instrumental advantage of both religion and freedom must end,' she said. The Iranian delegation also had a meeting with a delegation of Catholic women at the office of the Vatican Papal Council in which the two sides focused on special issues in medical, legal, sociological and other challenges with which the world women and families are engages and sought ways to resolve them. Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio for being the Bishop of Rome, in which capacity he is also the absolute sovereign of the Vatican City State. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina's Provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.