Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt met with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday to thank him for his prayers during her captivity, the Vatican said.
Betancourt, who was released July 2, had expressed a desire to meet the pontiff. The former presidential candidate in Colombia credited her religious faith with helping her survive more than six years of captivity in the jungle at the hands of leftist rebels known as FARC.
The ANSA news agency said Betancourt was accompanied by her mother as she arrived at the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.
TV footage showed Betancourt, a black lace veil covering her head, as she shook hands with Benedict and smiled at him. She was accompanied by relatives, a Vatican statement said.
