Above: Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina in Rome (Photo: DICOM)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina arrived in Rome on Thursday ahead of his visit with the Pope on Friday at the Vatican.

Medina arrived on a flight from Spain at the Ciampino airport in Rome at around 8:30 AM EST.

He was received by Nuncio Fernando Chica Arellano, chief of the Spanish Section of the Secretarat of State of the Holy See and by the Dominican Ambassador to the Vatican, Victor Grimaldi.

Also on hand were the Dominican Republic’s Ambassador to Italy, Vinicio Tobal, the country’s Ambassador to the UN FAO, Mario Arvelo Caamaño, the Dominican Consul in Milan, Natasha Sanchez and the son of the late former President Juan Bosch, Leon Bosch.

Medina was leading a delegation including Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo, Administrator of the Presidency Jose Ramon Peralta and Ambassador Grimaldi, among others.

Medina will be the second leader from Hispaniola to meet with the Pope this year, following Haiti President Michel Martelly’s meeting with Pope Francis in February.