From: National Catholic Register
by Edward Pentin Thursday, July 24, 2014 8:13 AM

Pope Francis received in private audience this afternoon Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman who was jailed and sentenced to death by a sharia court in Khartoum for “apostasy” and for marrying a Christian.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters the Pope “thanked Meriam for her witness to the faith,” adding that she and her family “thanked the Pope for his closeness, prayers and his support, and that of the Church.”

Their conversation, which was “very calm and affectionate”, also covered the future of women in Sudan. Fr. Lombardi said the Pope wanted their meeting “to be a gesture of closeness to all those who suffer for their faith, lived in difficult situations or with restriction.”

Meriam and her family spent half an hour with Pope Francis, arriving just before 1pm. The conversation took place in private, in the presence of Coptic Father Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, an official in the papal household who served as a translator. After quarter of an hour, the meeting was expanded to include other members of Meriam’s party, according to Sismografo.

The 26 year old doctor and her family arrived aboard an Italian government plane at Rome’s Ciampino airport at around 9.30 this morning. She was accompanied from Khartoum by Italy’s deputy foreign minister, Lapo Pistelli.

Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, was among those present to welcome the Ibrahim family on their arrival. “It’s a day of celebration,” he said.

Born to a Muslim father and Christian mother, Ibrahim was jailed and in May sentenced to death by a Sudanese court, accused of converting from Islam to Christianity. She was also charged with committing adultery since her marriage to a Christian cannot be recognised under sharia law.

Forced to give birth to a baby girl while in shackles, she has said she never came close to renouncing her faith.

Her treatment caused an international outcry, leading to her eventual release. She and her family now plan to travel to the United States. Her husband Daniel lives part of the year in New Hampshire.