Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was received by Leo XIV at the Vatican on October 13, 2025. As this was a private visit, the Holy See did not provide any details about the meeting. The head of state, for his part, issued a statement on the topics discussed during the audience. He said that the Pontiff had responded favorably to his invitation to visit Brazil, but has declined to travel there in November for COP30.
The Brazilian leader recounts that the Pope had to decline a trip for the COP30 in November due to Jubilee Year commitments -- but he hopes to visit later.
In his note published on social network X, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva hailed an “excellent meeting” with Pope Leo XIV. The president was accompanied by his wife and half a dozen Brazilian civil officials. The leader was elected for a third time during the 2022 presidential election, 10 years after his first two terms (2003-2011).
He said he had invited the head of the Catholic Church to attend the COP30 climate conference scheduled to take place in Belém in November.
“Due to the Jubilee, the Pope explained that he wouldn’t be able to attend, but he assured us that the Vatican would be represented in Belém,” wrote da Silva, putting an end to rumors about a planned papal trip that had been circulating recently.
The Pontiff has said he wants to visit Brazil “at the right time,” the president added. “He will be welcomed with all the love, warmth, and faith of the Brazilian people,” he said.
With this possible trip to the world's largest Catholic country, Leo XIV would be following in the footsteps of his predecessors: Francis made his first papal trip there, visiting in 2013 for World Youth Day in Rio, Benedict XVI went in 2007, and John Paul II visited four times (1980, 1982, 1991, 1997).
“Dilexi te” as a reference point
During Monday's audience, the left-wing leader discussed with the Pope the “immense challenges facing the world today.” He praised the recent apostolic exhortation Dilexi te on love for the poor as a “reference point,” speaking out in favor of a “vast movement of indignation against inequality.”
Da Silva is currently in Rome to participate in World Food Week at the FAO.
Pope Leo XIV is also expected to attend the event, joining on October 16, according to Italian media reports.
The Brazilian president had a relationship of esteem and friendship with Pope Francis, who received him at the Vatican on June 21, 2023.
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The 79-year-old politician, who was imprisoned for 580 days (from April 2018 to November 2019), received support from the Argentine pontiff during his captivity and his prosecution for corruption. Notably, the latter didn’t prevent him from establishing himself as the main opponent of nationalist President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023).
A letter from Pope Francis to Lula dated May 3, 2019, was leaked to the Brazilian press. “Truth will overcome lies, salvation will overcome condemnation,” wrote the pontiff, expressing his compassion to the Workers' Party leader for the “hardships” he had endured both politically and personally.
