TRIESTE, Italy, June 25 (Kyodo) — (EDS: ADDING INFO)
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City on July 7, sources close to the meeting said Wednesday.
The first meeting between a pope and a Japanese prime minister since 1999 will occur as Aso, a Catholic, has been hoping to meet the pope when he attends the Group of Eight summit to be held in Italy from July 8, said the sources in Rome.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, visited Japan in March and met with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and other Japanese officials. Mamberti is the first secretary for relations with states of the Holy See to have visited Japan.
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The last top-level meeting between Tokyo and Vatican City was held in 1999 between Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Pope John Paul II, both of whom have since deceased.
The Vatican said Wednesday Pope Benedict and U.S. President Barack Obama will hold their first talks July 10 in Vatican City.
The Holy See and Washington have been at odds over the issue of abortion, as Obama has been supporting abortion rights since assuming office in January.