United Nations Radio

The UN Secretary-General is looking forward to discussing global issues with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UN on Friday.

Ban Ki-moon visited the Pope in the Vatican exactly a year ago and invited him to come to UN headquarters.

"I am expecting to discuss with him a number of issues starting from poverty eradication, MDGs, climate change, dialogue among civilizations. We are now facing many challenges these days and we need really strong spiritual support from the Pope, and I am really looking forward to meeting him on Friday."

His Holiness will also address the General Assembly. His audience will include not only the official delegations, but also UN staff members. Some of them spent over an hour standing in line to get their passes to the Friday event.

Reporting for UN Radio, I am Elena Vapnitchnaia.

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