Pope likely to discuss violence, poverty with Brazilian president

Published: 2007-05-08

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI meets with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, social issues such as violence, poverty and abortion are expected to be high on the agenda. The pope will meet the president May 10 during his May 9-13 visit to Brazil. Some of the issues already have caused friction between the president and the Brazilian bishops. In a message addressed to "working men and women" on Brazilian Labor Day May 1, the Brazilian bishops' conference acknowledged that "some public policies have provided a transfer of income, new jobs and a readjustment of the minimum wage's purchasing power." However, they denounced "the persistence of unemployment or underemployment, informal labor, child labor, migration within the country and to other countries" and "the situation of workers who labor in slavery, trafficking of persons and the number of job-related accidents."

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .