Pope Francis accepts Romanian Academy honorary membership

Pope Francis accepted the honorary membership of the Romanian Academy, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest informed in a release. 

According to the cited source, an official delegation of the Romanian Academy extended the invitation to the Pontiff during a private audience with the Holy Father this Wednesday at the Vatican. 

"The Pontiff accepted 'out of friendship to Romania' the high honor offered by the Romanian Academy; the academic insignia will be sent to the Holy See through the Apostolic Nunciature," the release said. 

The Romanian delegation headed by Academy president, Academician Ionel Valentin Vlad, included Academicians Cristian Hera, Victor Spinei, Bogdan Simionescu and Victor Voicu, accompanied by Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest Ioan Robu, himself an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. 

On the occasion of the private audience, the Romanian Academy delegation presented Pope Francis with an Album of the Academy and with the Old Testament in the translation of 17th century scholar and diplomat Nicolae Milescu, who authored between 1661 - 1668 the first comprehensive translation of the biblical text into Romanian, mainly based on the Septuagint. 

Pope Francis is the second Supreme Pontiff elected as honorary member of the Romanian Academy after John Paul II who joined Romania's scientific and cultural learned institution in 2001, the release said. AGERPRES .