Pope Surprises on Private Visit to Caserta

After Anticipated Private Meeting With Friend, Speaks to Pentecostal Church

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Pope Francis has met privately with Evangelical pastor and friend Rev. Giovanni Traettino in Caserta, southern Italy.

After the private visit this morning with the friend he’s known since early ministry in Buenos Aires, the Pope surprisingly met with the Community of the Pentecostal Church of Reconciliation — which is under construction — and gave a speech. The Vatican has said the text of the talk is being transcribed and will be published soon.

Also, in a further departure from his planned itinerary, the Pope plans this afternoon to visit sisters who run a school in a neighbouring town.

Although some reports said this has pushed back his departure time to around 5 p.m., Vatican press office vice-director, Fr. Ciro Benedettini said it will instead likely be sooner. 

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Deborah Castellano Lubov

Deborah Castellano Lubov is Senior Vatican & Rome Correspondent for ZENIT; author of 'The Other Francis' ('L'Altro Francesco') featuring interviews with those closest to the Pope and preface by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin (currently published in 5 languages); Deborah is also NBC & MSNBC Vatican Analyst. She often covers the Pope's travels abroad, often from the Papal Flight (including for historic trips such as to Abu Dhabi and Japan & Thailand), and has also asked him questions on the return-flight press conference on behalf of the English-speaking press present. Lubov has done much TV & radio commentary, including for NBC, Sky, EWTN, BBC, Vatican Radio, AP, Reuters and more. She also has contributed to various books on the Pope and has written for various Catholic publications. For 'The Other Francis': http://www.gracewing.co.uk/page219.html or https://www.amazon.com/Other-Francis-Everything-They-about/dp/0852449348/

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