Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong met Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican during a business trip to Europe. The meeting is believed to have been arranged in exchange for Samsung Electronics’ donation of an outdoor billboard to the Vatican.
According to the Vatican on May. 2 (local time), Chairman Lee had a private audience with the pope at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Apr. 27. Cardinal Yoo Heung-sik, the first Korean cleric to be appointed as a Vatican minister, reportedly facilitated the meeting. Cardinal Yoo, who became the fourth Korean cardinal in May 2022, had Lee visit the Vatican in July of that year to congratulate him.
Samsung had previously installed four outdoor billboards in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican last summer. The Vatican had been considering replacing the billboards, installed by Japan’s Panasonic in 2007, due to their age and low resolution. The Vatican reportedly expressed gratitude to Samsung for its assistance ahead of next year’s Catholic Jubilee, expecting over 30 million pilgrims from around the world to visit.
