• The president was accorded a full Apostolic Palace State reception including a guard of honour mounted by the Swiss Guards upon his arrival at the official Papal residence.
• The president, who is in Rome at the invitation of Pope Francis, is making history as the first Kenyan Head of State to visit the Vatican.
Image: PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta kicked off his official visit to the Vatican City on Friday by meeting with his host Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican Palace.
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the global head of the Catholic Church, and the sovereign of the independent Vatican City State.
The president was accorded a full Apostolic Palace State reception including a guard of honour mounted by the Swiss Guards upon his arrival at the official Papal residence.
Pontifical Swiss Guards are an army of 135 highly trained marksmen drawn from Switzerland and charged with the responsibility of protecting His Holiness the Pope and guarding the Apostolic Palace.
The colorfully attired soldiers have devoted Roman Catholics who form the world's smallest army.
After the formal State reception ceremonies, Uhuru proceeded for a private audience with Pope Francis before leading the lean Kenyan delegation that included Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo for bilateral talks with their hosts led by Cardinal Bishop Pietro Parolin.
Cardinal-Bishop Parolin is the current Secretary of State of the Holy See and runs the Secretariat of State and Diplomatic Service of the Vatican City State.
The two delegations discussed several subjects of mutual interest between Kenya and the Holy See among them education, health, regional peace, and security as well as the fight against Covid-19.
Kenyan delegation sought the Catholic Church's enhanced participation in Kenya's education, training, and health sectors in support of the Government's Big 4 Agenda especially the ongoing rollout of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program.
Catholic Church is one of Kenya's foremost development partners, especially in the education and health sectors.
In education, the Church runs 7,740 schools (31 percent of all schools in the country), manages 220 vocational institutions, five colleges, and a university.
In healthcare, the Catholic Church is the largest non-state provider of health services in the country with close to 500 health facilities spread across the country.
They also discussed Kenya's role in regional peace and security especially in South Sudan, Pope Francis is personally involved.
Kenya's stature as a guarantor of regional peace and stability is set to rise in the coming months as the East African nation takes up its non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The president, who is in Rome at the invitation of Pope Francis, is making history as the first Kenyan Head of State to visit the Vatican.
Kenya established diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1965.
Over the years, Kenya has hosted four Papal visits in 1980,1985, in 1995 by His Holiness the late John Paul II, and most recently in November 2015 by the current Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Francis.
In an interview ahead of Uuhuru’s arrival in Rome, Kenya's envoy to the Vatican Prof Judi Wakhungu said President Kenyatta's rare audience with the Pope signifies the high regard in which Pope Francis holds the Kenyan leader.
"This visit is extremely rare. The reason that it is rare is that it is not usual for the Holy Father to have an audience with just any Head of State. He values the role that our President is playing in very many aspects," Wakhungu said.