Pope Francis blesses Mariam Ibrahim of Sudan during a private meeting at the Vatican July 24. The Sudanese woman, who was spared a death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity and then was barred from leaving Sudan, flew into Rome July 24 in an Italian government plane. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters) (July 24, 2014) See POPE-MERIAM July 24, 2014.