Minister President Rehlinger meets Pope Leo XIV with citizens

The Minister President of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, meets Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican. In October, the SPD politician will be received for a private audience. Selected citizens from Saarland will also travel to Rome with her.

On October 17, the Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) will have a private audience with Pope Leo XIV. "It is a great honor for me to meet the Pope and I am very much looking forward to the exchange," said the Catholic politician on Friday in Saarbrücken. "It is also an appreciation for Saarland."

According to the State Chancellery, selected citizens from Saarland will accompany the SPD politician. Saarland is the federal state in Germany with the highest percentage of Catholics: According to figures from the German Bishops' Conference, it was 46.5 percent in 2024.

An audience (from the Latin audire; to hear) is a meeting with a higher-ranking person, usually with monarchs or in the Vatican with the Pope. There are private audiences for individuals, sometimes accompanied, or audiences for larger groups.

Popes receive both in private audience, such as heads of state or government leaders, or in larger audiences. These include meetings with groups or associations. Private audiences usually take place in the Apostolic Palace. However, Francis has also received visitors in the Santa Marta guesthouse.

The new Archbishop of Vienna, Josef Grünwidl, is expanding his contacts in the Vatican. Almost four months after his consecration, Pope Leo XIV received him for a private audience for the first time. Further appointments in Rome are planned.

Among the German bishops, Franz-Josef Overbeck is one of those who strongly advocate the reform ideas of the Synodal Path. Now, Pope Leo XIV has spoken with him during an audience in the Vatican.