Pope Francis met some of the most significant world leaders during his 12 years in office. Celebrities also passed through his doors and encountered him in meetings worldwide. Two of them, Donald and Melania Trump, have just confirmed they will be at his funeral – the POTUS and First Lady met Pope Francis in the Vatican during their first term at the White House.
However, their meeting was marred by some confusion. Francis reportedly attempted to speak Italian with Melania, who claimed she could speak the language. But can she really? One expert now claims she can’t — and that the meeting with Pope Francis hit a speed-bump as a result.
Pope Francis, readers will surely be aware, has passed away. The 88-year-old, born in Buenos Aires, made his last public appearance on Easter Sunday at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. His death was announced Monday, April 21.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
In his final years, Pope Francis suffered from many health issues. He had only one full lung and suffered through two rounds of intestinal surgeries. Just a week ago, he was released from the hospital after spending 38 days there for a life-threatening respiratory condition.
On Monday night, as per the Holy See Press Office, Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, stated that Pope Francis’ cause of death had been identified as a stroke followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse. His death was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography.
Pope Francis dead at 88
“I hereby declare that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated above,” Dr. Arcangeli said, per Vatican News.
Throughout his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis traveled the world. He visited 68 countries and met with many world leaders, including US presidents. His first meeting with a US president was with Barack Obama in 2014.
Obama was in the midst of his second term as president when he and the pope held a meeting in Rome. Though they had differing views on many issues, their meeting was deemed a success.
Obama said certain differences didn’t arise during his meeting with Francis. They spoke about human rights and religious freedom, and, as Obama explained: “The responsibilities that we all share to care for the least of these —the poor, the excluded.”
“I was extremely moved by his insights about the importance of us all having a moral perspective on world problems and not simply thinking in terms of our own narrow self-interests,” Obama added.
Obama invited the Pope to visit him at the White House — and in 2015, he did. During the visit to the US, prior to which the pope had met with Fidel Castro in Cuba, Francis became the first pontiff to ever address a joint session of Congress. At the time, tens of thousands of people had gathered at the Capitol’s West Lawn to watch the speech on screens.
Pope Francis’ meetings with U.S. presidents
“Today I would like not only to address you, but through you the entire people of the United States. Here, together with their representatives, I would like to take this opportunity to dialogue with the many thousands of men and women who strive each day to do an honest day’s work, to bring home their daily bread, to save money and –one step at a time – to build a better life for their families,” Pope Francis said in his speech to Congress.
“These are men and women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet way sustain the life of society. They generate solidarity by their actions, and they create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need.”
After his speech, Francis also made a brief appearance on the speaker’s balcony.
“Good day to all of you. I thank you for your welcome and your presence, I thank the most important people here today: the children. I want to ask God to bless them. Lord, Father of us all, bless his people, bless each of them, bless their families, grant them what they need most. I ask you to pray for me and, if there are some among you who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to wish me well. Thank you. Thank you very much. And God bless America!” he said.
The same day, Pope Francis met with a person who was vice president at the time, but would become President of the United States: prominent Catholic Joe Biden. Before his death, Francis was to meet one more president – Donald Trump – and his wife, Melania. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trump was said to have quite a negative picture of Francis. Just days after the pope was elected in 2013, Trump questioned him and his actions.
Melania Trump & Pope Francis ‘awkward’ meeting
“I don’t like seeing the Pope standing at the checkout counter (front desk) of a hotel in order to pay his bill,” Trump wrote on X, then Twitter, at the time, per CNN. “It’s not Pope-like!”
Meanwhile, in 2015, when Trump became the Republican presidential candidate frontrunner, he said Francis seemed “like a pretty good guy”, though counterweighted that by claiming he was too political.
Just months later, Trump said that the pope didn’t understand the illegal immigration facing the US, to which Pope Francis responded that Trump wasn’t “a Christian” after he championed deporting immigrants and the building of his infamous wall along the Mexico border.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” he told journalists. “This is not the gospel.”
Trump’s response? Saying Francis’ opinion was “disgraceful.”
Still, despite their differing views on many matters, the president and Pope Francis met in 2017, when Donald and Melania Trump visited the Vatican. However, the meeting began with confusion, involving an awkward moment between the pope and Melania Trump.
The First Lady is from Slovenia, so it’s no surprise that she can speak the Slovenian language. Melania is also fluent in English, but has previously stated that she is fluent in several further languages. During Donald’s first presidential campaign, Melania explained to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski that she spoke English, Italian, French, German, and Slovenian.
“She looked at him and said nothing”
Interestingly, she’s never been heard speaking Italian, French, or German in public when meeting dignitaries from the respective countries, notwithstanding stock phrases such as “Bonjour” or “Ciao”. The First Lady always has translators beside her on such occasions – and it was the same when she met with Pope Francis.
As stated, the First Lady claimed she is fluent in Italian, though a translator was on hand when she met Pope Francis in 2017. The pope asked Melania if she fed her husband a special Slovenian cake called potica.
It quickly became apparent that Melania immediately didn’t understand. She then turned to the interpreter, who explained his question. Melania then answered: “Potica, yes.”
All told, the meeting went well… or did it?
In 2020, author and Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan revealed new details about the meeting in an unauthorized 2020 biography about Melania, The Art of Her Deal. Jordan claimed that the pope had received information that Melania spoke Italian before their encounter.
When Pope Francis extended his hand to Melania, she said, “Thank you. Nice to meet you,” in English, according to Jordan. However, the pope answered in Italian.
“She looked at him and said nothing,” Jordan wrote in The Art of Her Deal.
When a Vatican aide handed Melania Trump a rosary for the pope to bless, she again answered in English, “Oh, I would love it. Thank you. Grazie,” she said.
Did Melania Trump lie about her Italian language skills?
Although Melania answered in English, she was familiar with at least some Italian words. When the pope asked where they were off to next, the First Lady replied, “I’m going to visit a hospital, for bambinos. Thank you so much.”
Mary Jordan speculated in her book that it could simply have been that Melania was too starstruck by the pope to try her Italian, or rather that she didn’t want to be rude in excluding her stepdaughter Ivanka Trump (out present), who doesn’t speak Italian. Still, the author suggests that “exaggerating if it builds the brand and polishes the image” could have been a compelling narrative for Melania.
To say she can speak five languages would make her comparable to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the wife of President John F. Kennedy. She was highly skilled in several languages and held a conversation in French with Pope John XXIII for more than 30 minutes when they visited the Vatican in 1962
Melania Trump has only been heard saying “bonjour” and “ciao” in videos when she has met European leaders or children in Europe. So is it really true that Melania can speak all the languages she claims to?
“I couldn’t find any videos showing her fluency in anything other than Slovenian and English,” Mary Jordan wrote The Art of Her Deal. “I asked the White House if they could point to any evidence, and they did not respond.”
Do you think Melania Trump is fluent in five languages or not? Regardless, we are envious of her opportunity to meet Pope Francis. Please share this article on Facebook with friends and family to honor the late Pope Francis.
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