The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today attended the inauguration ceremony of Pope Francis, which was held at St. Peter’s square in Vatican, attended by numerous high ranking political and social figures from around the world, religious leaders and hundreds of thousands of believers.

After the inauguration, President Ivanov had a brief meeting with Pope Francis, extending him once again congratulations on his appointment as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, wished him success in the execution of the noble mission.

At the meeting, the Macedonian President stressed that the relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Holy See have always been excellent and expressed willingness to strengthen and deepen mutual friendship and cooperation in the following period.

At the same time, President Ivanov expressed his expectation that the highly esteemed engagement of Pope Francis and his commitment to the Christian values and principles will enable to successfully face the challenges of today and that his reputation and authority will help in the preservation of the universal values, dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect.

At the meeting, President Ivanov extended an invitation to Pope Francis to visit the Republic of Macedonia.

The inauguration ceremony of the newly elected Pope Francis was a chance President Ivanov to have short informal meetings with several world statesmen. On the sidelines of the inauguration, the Macedonian President met with the Vice President of the United States, Mr. Joseph Biden, the German Chancellor, Ms. Angela Merkel, the President of the Italian Republic, Mr. Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Mexico, Mr. Enrique Pena Nieto, Prince Albert II of Monaco, the President of Lithuania, Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite, the President of Latvia, Mr. Andris Berzins, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Borut Pahor, the President of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev.

Pope Francis’ inauguration of was attended by officials of 180 countries, including the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.