Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI received Saturday Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her Chilean counterpart,Michelle Bachelet, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a treaty which ended a territorial dispute between the two Latin American nations. Benedict in his address recalled the role played by his predecessor, John Paul II, who helped avert war between the two mostly Catholic nations over the disputed islands in the Beagle Channel.
The issue was eventually resolved with the Vatican-brokered 1984 Peace and Friendship Treaty between Argentina and Chile.
Saturday's meeting. Benedict said, "is an appropriate and joyful commemoration of those intense negotiations which, through pontifical mediation, concluded with a dignified, reasonable and equitable solution, thus avoiding an armed conflict which was on the point of breaking out between the two peoples."
Benedict went on to highlight how the treaty and the mediation which made it possible, "are indissolubly linked" to the figure of Pope John Paul II who died in 2005.
Following their meeting with Benedict, Kirchner and Bachelet visited John Paul's tomb where they left some flowers after pausing for a silent prayer.
