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VATICAN CITY (AP) — A prize-winning, teenage Argentine author has given Pope Francis a copy of her latest book and a hug.
Veronica Cantero Burroni, who is in a wheelchair because of a neurological problem, had a spot in the VIP section of Francis' general audience on Wednesday. She was in Italy to receive a literary award named for the Italian writer Elsa Morante.
Veronica, who turns 14 on Friday, gave Francis a copy of her fifth book "The Shadow Thief," which she said she had dedicated to history's first Argentine pope.
After their brief meeting in St. Peter's Square, she told reporters: "I told him I loved him, that I prayed for him, and thanked him."
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