German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Pope Francis in the Vatican for a private audience on Saturday, in their first such meeting. The 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church welcomed Scholz in the Apostolic Palace. It was the first longer encounter between the two leaders. The two previously met last year however, at the funeral of Francis’ predecessor, the former pope Benedict XVI, who was born in southern Germany and spent much of his career as a priest, theologian and archbishop there. Scholz arrived in Rome on Friday for a two-day visit and met Italian President Sergio Mattarella. The chancel…