Pope Francis on Monday received Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena in an audience at the Vatican, where the two leaders discussed the peace process underway in the South Asian country, as well as interfaith dialogue, the Holy See said in a statement.
Francis and Sirisena also exchanged views on the environment and the landmark deal signed by the world's nations on Saturday at the United Nations climate change conference agreeing to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C, the statement said.
After his papal audience, Sirisena also met the Vatican's second-in-command secretary of state Pietro Parolin and Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with States, the statement added.
Sirisena became Sri Lankan president in a surprise victory in January, with support from many members of the country's Tamil, Muslim and Christian minorities who felt increasingly marginalised under the authoritarian rule of his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka experienced years of international isolation under Rajapaksa, who in 2009 brought to a bloody end the country's decades-long ethnic war against Tamil Tiger rebels.
