Pope Francis Convenes with Global Leaders at G7 Summit

During the G7 summit in southern Italy, Pope Francis participated in a series of one-on-one meetings with leaders from the US, Ukraine, India, Kenya, France, Turkey, Canada, and Brazil. This marked the first time a Pope has addressed a G7 summit. He addressed topics such as the threat and promise of artificial intelligence and human versus algorithmic decision-making.

Before his speech, the Pope held meetings with figures such as Kristalina Georgieva of the IMF, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Justin Trudeau of Canada. Following his address, Pope Francis listened to interventions from other leaders and met with William Samoei Ruto of Kenya, Narendra Modi of India, Joe Biden of the USA, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey.

The focus of the G7 summit was on Africa and economic development, as well as addressing the war in the Middle East and migration issues. The summit included Italy, the USA, Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. Despite not being a member of the G7, Pope Francis was invited by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to participate in an “Outreach” session that was open to non-G7 members.