PM Briceño Returns Home from Visit with Pope Francis

Prime Minister John Briceño has returned home from his trip to the Vatican Apostolic Palace where he met Pope Francis and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher. The trip was originally scheduled for earlier this year, but the PM had to suddenly cancel and returned home to defuse tensions within the sugar industry. But this time around, he was able to complete his visit, alongside a delegation that included his wife, Rosanna Briceño, the Special Envoy for Women and Children, Amalia Mai, the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie. PM Briceño told us about the visit.

 

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño

“I wish I could find the words to describe meeting Pope Francis. Ince you are in his presence you know that you are with a special person, a holy person and we managed to talk about many issues. He wanted to know more about Belize and then also he asked me about my family. I explained to him how my mother, who passed away twenty-nine years ago, would have been overjoyed to know that her son managed to meet the holy father, so it was something very significant for me and my family. He was excited to hear about Belize and I invited him, I extended an invitation to him, and I know he said he is not travelling as much but should the opportunity arise, he would be happy to visit Belize because he has said he has heard good things bout Belize and how beautiful Belize is and obviously that is god’s creation. And he would be excited to visit sometime in the future. I also met with the deputy secretary of state in the Vatican and we had also a long discussion, a more in depth discussion about the challenges of Belize, especially the Belize/Guatemala issue and that we being at the ICJ. So I believe that it was a very successful visit and I believe that with the prayers of Pope Francis and the church that Belize can have a brighter future.”