Pope Francis has shared a special moment with an Argentine human rights activist recently reunited with her long-lost grandson.
Wednesday in the Vatican, the Holy Father received Estela de Carlotto, president of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and her grandson, Ignacio Guido Montoya Carlotto, who had been missing and has been recently recovered with the help of his grandmother’s search efforts.
The human rights organization Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo aims to find children, who were secretly adopted after their families were killed during Argentina’s military dictatorship.
Through a DNA test earlier this year, Montoya Carlotto’s identity was confirmed.
Shortly after his birth in 1978, his mother, Laura Carlotto, was killed.
Sources explain Estella Carlotto, an 83-year-old former teacher, searched nearly four years for her grandson, who now is a married and well-liked musician and music teacher, who lives and works about four hours southwest of Buenos Aires.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, noted the “cordial” atmosphere of the private meeting which lasted a half hour.
During the visit, the statement added, Pope Francis also met 18 members of the Carlotto family. The family members offered the Holy Father a few gifts, including a poncho, a CD of music composed by Montoya Carlotto, and a scarf of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
