BBC News
24 July 2014
A Sudanese woman who fled to Italy after being spared a death sentence for renouncing Islam has met the Pope.
Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag flew to Rome with her family after more than a month in the US embassy in Khartoum.
There was global condemnation when she was sentenced to hang for apostasy by a Sudanese court.
Mrs Ibrahim’s father is Muslim so according to Sudan’s version of Islamic law she is also Muslim and cannot convert.
She was raised by her Christian mother and says she has never been Muslim.
Welcoming her at the airport, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said: “Today is a day of celebration.”
Mrs Ibrahim met Pope Francis at his Santa Marta residence at the Vatican soon after her arrival.
“The Pope thanked her for her witness to faith,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying.
The meeting, which lasted around half an hour, was intended to show “closeness and solidarity for all those who suffer for their faith,” he added…
The article continues, with video, at BBC News.
Related: Meriam Ibrahim, Christian Sentenced to Die for Her Faith, Meets the Pope
…Sudan’s high court threw out her death sentence in June, but she was then blocked from leaving the country by authorities who questioned the validity of her travel documents.
Ibrahim arrived in Italy with her husband Daniel Wani, who is a citizen of both the United States and South Sudan, her 18-month-old son, and an infant born May 27…
Pope Francis meets Meriam Ibrahim, from Sudan, with her daughter Maya in her arms, at the Pope’s Santa Marta residence, in the Vatican, July 24 2014. (Reuters/Osservatore Romano/Handout/EPA/Landov)
Update: WH Lauds Sudanese Christian’s Release But Does Not Mention ‘Christianity’ in Statement
