TheCable

Pope Francis on Thursday met with Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman from an Islamic background who was sentenced to death-by-hanging for marrying a Christian and refusing to renounce her faith.

The 27-year-old attracted global attention for maintaining her stance despite the life-threatening trials that came her way.

She had her marriage dissolved by a Sudanese court and also received a penalty of 100 lashes of the cane.

Pregnant at the time, she had to put up with putting to bed in prison.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, stood stoically during the travails, telling CNN at the time that his wife would not bow to pressure.

“I know my wife. She’s committed. Even last week, they brought in sheikhs and she told them, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m not going to change my mind,” said Wani.

On Thursday, British newspaper, The Guardian, reported that the Pope decided to meet Ibrahim and her family in order to thank them for their “witness to faith” and “perseverance”.

The paper quoted Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman as saying that the meeting, which lasted 30 minutes, was “a gesture that goes beyond the meeting and becomes a symbol and a sign of closeness to all those who suffer due to their faith and practice of their faith”.

Until their visit to the Pope, Ibrahim and her family sought refuge at the US embassy in Khartoum to possibly evade continuous harassment.