Sawt Falasteen - France's Macron in Rome for first meeting with Pope Leo

Their meeting at the Vatican on Friday morning comes against the backdrop of the Iran war, for which both men have called for a diplomatic solution.

The French president arrived early evening Thursday in Rome's Trastevere neighbourhood, to visit the Catholic community of Sant'Egidio, the Holy See's informal diplomatic channel that is active in peace efforts and humanitarian issues.

Asked if he came with a message of peace, Macron replied: "Yes, and also to see my friends at Sant'Egidio", which is run by his friend Andrea Riccardi.

On Friday morning, Macron will meet the French-speaking, Chicago-born pope at the Apostolic Palace for what the Elysee Palace called a "republican and secular visit".

The focus of the visit is on the Vatican, so Macron has no plans to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

It will be the fourth papal audience for the centre-right leader of France, following three with Leo's predecessor, Francis, in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Macron and Leo have not met before but spoke by phone last May, shortly after the former Robert Francis Prevost was elected by fellow cardinals as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Then, Macron told the new pontiff he shared "the ambition to reconcile the fight against poverty and the protection of the planet".

The leaders will address a wide range of topics in Friday's meeting, the Elysee said, from international affairs and the regulation of artificial intelligence, to climate change and humanitarian issues.

- 'Intellectual exchange' -

The meeting with the discreet and measured Leo may call for a change in style for Macron, who enjoyed a close and direct relationship with the Argentine Francis, whom he even addressed informally.

Vatican expert Marco Politi told AFP the encounter would be more than just a diplomatic meeting, but instead a "personal, intellectual exchange".

With the Trump presidency and the war in Iran, the current geopolitical environment is marked by "brutality and chaos", he said, with Macron and Leo representing leaders who want "to rebuild an international society based on rules".

In recent weeks, Leo has been more outspoken in opposing the foreign policy of US President Donald Trump, calling his threat ahead of this week's ceasefire agreement to wipe out Iran's civilisation "unacceptable".

Macron, meanwhile, has expressed irritation with Trump, most recently after the Republican's mocking comments about the French leader's marriage.

According to news reports, Macron may also use Friday's meeting to call for the release of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who has been imprisoned since June in Algeria, where Leo is due to fly on Monday in a papal first.

- Visit to France? -

Macron's delegation includes the former president of a commission over church sex abuse in France. The commission was never officially received by Pope Francis, despite its 2021 report exposing systemic scale of abuse within the institution.

Amid current debate in France, the issue of assisted dying and euthanasia could also be raised in the meeting between Macron and Leo.

The Vatican regards euthanasia as a "crime against human life" and assisted dying as a "grave sin", with those resorting to such measures barred from receiving the sacraments.

A diplomatic source told AFP that Macron is expected to formally invite the pope to France.

Despite having visited France on three occasions -- to Strasbourg, Marseille and Corsica's Ajaccio -- Francis never made a state visit to the country, and declined to attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2024.

H.Darwish--SF-PST