Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema on Tuesday held talks with the outgoing Ambassador of the Holy See in Zambia, His Excellency Archbishop Gianfranco Gallone, the Apostolic Nuncio.

Hichilema confirmed of the meeting in a statement posted on his official facebook page seen by this publication.

In his post Hichilema hailed the Nuncio for facilitating his meeting with Pope Francis in 2022 in Vatican.

“We hailed the Nuncio for facilitating our visit to the Vatican in 2022, which had been our desire of many years, to meet The Holy Father, Pope Francis. His Holiness received us warmly and gave us his wise counsel.

“We appreciated the tireless work and significant contribution of the Catholic Church in areas of health, education and care for the vulnerable in our communities across Zambia,” said Hichilema.

He added: “The Catholic Church is a key component of Zambian civil society and has always played an important role in Zambia’s democratic governance. In line with the Church’s advice and guidance, we will continue to embrace the spirit of dialogue and enhance respect of human rights. Ours is a strong partnership of service to the people of Zambia.

“We thanked Archbishop Gallone for the visit and wished him well on his next assignment to Guatemala.”