Sudanese woman who escaped execution meets with the Pope

Pope Francis has met privately with a Sudanese woman who arrived in Italy after escaping a death sentence in Sudan for refusing to recant her Christian faith. Ishag and her family were received by Pope Francis at his home for a 30-minute meeting in which he thanked her for her “courageous testament of faith” and her “tenacity”, the Vatican said in a statement.

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.

The Vatican said Pope Francis had “a very affectionate” meeting with Meriam Ibrahim, 27, her husband and their two small children. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the pope “thanked her for her faith and courage, and she thanked him for his prayer and solidarity” during the half-hour meeting Thursday.

The 77-year-old Argentinian pontiff gave Ishag rosary beads after an “affectionate and warm” chat about her plans in the US, where she is expected to fly with her family in a few days time, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

A senior Sudanese official told Reuters news agency that the government in Khartoum had approved her departure in advance. Mrs Ibrahim’s lawyer Mohamed Mostafa Nour told BBC Focus on Africa that she travelled on a Sudanese passport she received at the last minute. “She is unhappy to leave Sudan. She loves Sudan very much. It’s the country she was born and grew up in,” he said.

The mother-of-two was accompanied on the flight by Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli, who met with Ishag on July 3rd and has been following the case closely. Pistelli posted a photo on Facebook of the young mother aboard the plane cradling her infant daughter as her toddler son drank from a bottle. “Mission accomplished,” he wrote.

Ishag’s arrival in the Italian capital follows a European Parliament resolution condemning her “degrading and inhumane treatment” and calling for legal reforms in Sudan. Read more about the story here.