Abinader embarks on official visits to Rome and Lisbon

Santo Domingo.- Today, President Luis Abinader departs for Rome, Italy, accompanied by First Lady Raquel Arbaje and their daughters Esther Patricia, Graciela Lucía, and Adriana Margarita.

The Dominican president’s official agenda begins on Monday, May 27, with a private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis. Following this, President Abinader will meet with Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See. The president and his family will then tour the Vatican gardens and the Sistine Chapel.

At 5:00 PM local time on Monday, President Abinader will meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. He will be accompanied by Vice Minister of Bilateral Foreign Policy José Julio Gómez, Dominican Ambassador to Italy Tony Raful, and his assistant Mercedes Pichardo.

Following this meeting, President Abinader will travel to Lisbon, Portugal, to continue his official European tour. His agenda in Portugal begins on Tuesday, May 28, at 10:55 AM local time with the transfer of the official delegation to the Belem Palace. He will hold a private meeting with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in the Hearing Room at Belem Palace. President Abinader is scheduled to return to the Dominican Republic on the afternoon of Saturday, June 1.

Yesterday, President Abinader hosted Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, at the National Palace. The meeting was also attended by the metropolitan archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Francisco Ozoria Acosta.