Colombian President Gustavo Petro began his trip to Rome yesterday, where he will visit Pope Leo XIV, amid criticism of the Meloni government. Credit: Juan Diego Cano / Presidency of Colombia.
Gustavo Petro arrived in Rome on Monday to carry out one of the final international tours of his presidency, a visit whose centerpiece will be the private audience he is scheduled to hold next Thursday with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
The trip comes just weeks before Colombia’s presidential transition and in a context shaped by the president’s intention to strengthen international support for his agenda of peace, social justice, and agrarian reform.
The Colombian head of state’s presence in the Italian capital has also been surrounded by controversy since before his arrival. Petro publicly criticized Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government over what he described as difficulties in carrying out part of his diplomatic agenda in Italy, remarks that opened a new front of political tension during a visit that was initially conceived as a setting for institutional dialogue with the Holy See.
Colombia’s Petro kicks off visit to Rome
The meeting with Pope Leo XIV will be the most important event of the official visit. According to Colombia’s Presidency, the president will seek to discuss issues related to peacebuilding, social justice, the protection of life, and international cooperation with the pontiff, topics that have occupied a central place in the Colombian government’s foreign policy.
One of the issues Petro intends to raise is the situation of rural farming communities benefiting from agrarian reform. Days before departing on the trip, the president announced that he would seek the Vatican’s support in promoting an international campaign to protect farmers who, he said, have been threatened after receiving land acquired by the state under the land redistribution program.
The audience with Leo XIV will also carry strong symbolic significance. It is one of Petro’s final diplomatic engagements before the end of his term and represents an opportunity to present to the Holy See an assessment of his efforts in peacebuilding and national reconciliation.
The presidential agenda began on Monday with his arrival in Rome and will continue for several days with high-level meetings within the Vatican. Among the scheduled events is a meeting with Italian priest Luigi Ciotti, known for his work against the mafia, corruption, and organized crime through the organization Libera.
The Colombian president will also meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State and the Holy See’s top diplomatic authority, as well as Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States. Discussions with both officials will focus on bilateral cooperation and the major international challenges facing the global community.
The Presidency has stated that the purpose of these meetings is to strengthen ties between Colombia and the Vatican in areas such as peace promotion, human rights protection, rural development, and the search for negotiated solutions to the conflicts affecting the country.
El Presidente @PetroGustavo sostendrá una audiencia con el Papa León XIV el próximo 2 de julio.
El encuentro tendrá como ejes la paz, la justicia social y la defensa de la vida, en sintonía con los pronunciamientos públicos del pontífice y su llamado al pueblo colombiano a… pic.twitter.com/7Axr2dxjRL
— Presidencia Colombia 🇨🇴 (@infopresidencia) June 29, 2026
Clash with Giorgia Meloni’s government
Beyond the institutional agenda, the visit has been marked by criticism leveled by Petro against Giorgia Meloni’s government. The president said there were obstacles to carrying out some of the activities planned during his stay in Italy and even spoke of an alleged “veto” that affected part of his official schedule.
The Colombian president’s remarks added a political dimension to a trip that was initially centered on relations with the Vatican So far, the Italian government has not officially responded to Petro’s claims, while various political observers have interpreted the episode as another example of the ideological differences between Petro and the Italian conservative leader.
The controversy also sparked reactions in Colombia. Opposition leaders questioned both the trip and the criticism directed at the Italian government, arguing that the president should focus his efforts on the country’s domestic situation during the final weeks of his administration.
The visit to Rome has become one of Gustavo Petro’s final international diplomatic missions before he hands over power on August 7. The government is seeking to project an image of continuity in its defense of peace and the social reforms promoted over the past four years, using the Vatican as a platform to reinforce those messages before the international community.