Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church and President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met today at the Vatican in the first-ever face-to-face discussion between the heads of the two global churches.
"The differences in doctrine are real and they're important," President Nelson said, "but they're not nearly as important as the things we have in common — our concern for human suffering, the importance of religious liberty for all of society, and the importance of building bridges of friendship instead of building walls of segregation."
The pope issued an invitation to President Nelson for the private audience in conjunction with President Nelson's trip this weekend to Italy, where he will dedicate the church's history-making new Rome Italy Temple.
President Russell M. Nelson and Elder M. Russell Ballard have entered the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. This is the first time a president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has met with a pope. @NelsonRussellM @BallardMRussell @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/ay0y8PNLHt — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (@ChurchNewsroom) March 9, 2019
Watch President Nelson and President Ballard talk about the experience in the video below!
Story by Tad Walch, Deseret News
Lead image courtesy of the Vatican
