On 8 April, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Bishop Giam-battista Diquattro, the Pope’s Nuncio to Brazil, and Arch-bishop Jaime Spengler of Porto Alegre (RS) and President of the National Con-ference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), were received by the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Palácio do Planalto in Brasília (DF).
Cardinal Pietro Parolin was in Brazil to lead the retreat for the Brazilian episcopate on April 10 and 11, within the context of the 61st General Assembly of the National Con-ference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), taking place at the Pedro Vítor Coelho de Almeida Events Centre, in the National Shrine, in Aparecida (SP), until April 19. After meeting with the Head of State of the country, Cardinal Parolin visited the headquarters of the CNBB in Brasília, where he toured the workspaces and was received by the conference’s collaborators. Subsequently, Cardinal Parolin presided over the opening of the Plenary Assembly of the Brazilian Episcopate.