Romanian president to meet Pope Benedict two weeks before announced resignation

Romanian President Traian Basescu will meet Pope Benedict the XVI on Friday, February 15, several days after the Pope announced his resignation. Pope Benedict, 85, will be keeping his regular schedule until February 28, when he will step down. He recently announced his resignation, citing his age and declining health. Basescu first met the Pope in 2008, when he received the Romanian President and his wife at his summer residence at Gandolfo, and not in Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI is the first Pope to have resigned in the last 600 years, and his decision could be, according to pundits, one of the most influential decisions in his eight-year papacy. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: presidency.ro)