Despite a ban on traveling to the European Union for the last decade, Robert Mugabe once again found himself there this weekend. He attended the beatification of the late pope John Paul II.

The experience clearly touched that (only to be confirmed by autopsy one day) heart of his and he said it was “fabulous, absolutely heavenly”. He went on to say it “was right that the spiritual honour be given to pope John Paul II”. Mugabe also attended John Paul II’s funeral in 2005.

Mugabe has been barred from travelling to the European Union for the last decade, under a ban imposed over concerns about vote rigging and human rights abuses. The Vatican is a sovereign state that is not part of the European Union, although to attend the ceremony Mugabe had to transit through the Italian capital of Rome. Traveling under United Nations auspices, Mugabe also came to Rome in 2008 for a summit of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

[Source: News24]