VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will receive Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the Vatican at the end of this month, the religious news agency I.Media reported Tuesday.

The 59-year-old Maronite Christian and former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army will travel to Vatican City on October 30.

Prior to Sleiman's election in May, following months of political paralysis in the Middle East country, the pope had urged Lebanese leaders to unify as a "symbol" of peaceful coexistence between different religious communities.