Pope Benedict met the president of Kosovo on Saturday in a private audience where he asked about the future of the breakaway Serbian province which is expected to declare independence in the next few weeks.
The audience with Fatmir Sejdiu, who has held the largely ceremonial post of Kosovan president since 2006, comes at an extremely sensitive time for Kosovo which has been run by the United Nations and patrolled by Nato since 1999.
Serbia, which holds the runoff round of a presidential election on Sunday, is opposed to it declaring independence. The Vatican said that the meeting did not mean any change in its position on Kosovo.
"The Holy See will follow developments on the ground with particular attention and, in her appraisal thereof, will bear in mind the position of the international community," the Vatican said in a statement. In his meeting with Sejdiu, Pope Benedict expressed his "closeness to the entire population" of Kosovo where 2 million ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent, most of whom are Muslims. Roman Catholics number just 65,000.