Akel MP Christos Christofides met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Wednesday and used the brief encounter to raise the Cyprus problem and the destruction of cultural heritage.

In his social media post issued today, Christofides said he presented the Pope with books on the history of Morphou, as well as publications concerning the destruction of the north’s cultural heritage, the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion.

“We asked the Pope to assist in the efforts for the liberation and reunification of our homeland and people in conditions of peace,” Christofides said.

The meeting took place on August 12 following the Pope’s customary address to crowds gathered at St Peter’s Basilica.

Christofides described it as a brief meeting conducted as part of a standard Vatican procedure in which religious and political figures and other dignitaries are invited to meet the Pope.

“We tried to convey the magnitude of the destruction and the dangers that the Republic of Cyprus, a member state of the European Union, has faced and is facing,” he said.

Christofides had previously accompanied former president Demetris Christofias to the Vatican in 2012 and participated in talks with the Holy See.

Christofides said the visit had given him an understanding of the “quality and depth” of relations between Cyprus and the Vatican and the assistance he believes could be obtained from the Holy See.