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Google's Schmidt to have private meeting with Pope

James Politi and Richard Waters

Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016 | 6:47 PM ETFinancial Times

Pope Francis has both praised the internet for being a "gift from God" and criticised technology — and particularly social media — for being alienating and a source of "mental pollution".

On Friday, the 79-year-old Argentine pontiff will have a chance to reconcile those two statements as he meets Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, the new holding company for Google, for a brief meeting at the Vatican. The meeting has been confirmed by two people familiar with the matter.
Pope Francis — an ardent critic of unfettered free markets — has rarely granted private audiences to global business leaders since being elected to the helm of the Catholic Church in 2013. However, on his trip to the US last year he did spare some time to meet prominent Wall Street figures, including Steve Schwarzman, the founder of Blackstone, the private equity firm.

Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Eric Schmidt, Alphabet Inc. Chairman

The agenda of Friday's meeting has not been made public, though one person familiar with the visit said Mr Schmidt would be there in a private capacity. Mr Schmidt has championed environmental causes in his charitable donations, particularly through the Schmidt Family Foundation, aligning him with the Pope's vocal push for action to curb climate change.