Pope Francis to visit Montenegro next year

Pope Francis at a meeting with Dusko Markovic

 The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, will visit Montenegro next year. This has been confirmed at a meeting between the Pope and Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic on Saturday at the Vatican,

"The visit of the head of the Catholic Church to our country is of historical importance," the government statement said after Markovic's meeting with the Pope.

According to the press release, Pope Francis praised Montenegro's policies on ecumenism, culture, ecology, and humanization in all spheres of social relations.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Markovic, in addition to the Pope, met also the Secretary of State Cardinal Peter Parolin at the Vatican. According to earlier reports by the government, Markovic will discuss with the Vatican representatives a draft law on freedom of religion, which must be approved in Montenegro by the end of the year.