Pope Francis has met with the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, to discuss how social media could be used for poverty reduction.

A report from the Vatican City said that the Pope granted private audience to Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla, who are in Italy to attend a wedding.

Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, said one topic of discussion at the meeting was “how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and make a message of hope arrive, especially to those most in need.”

Zuckerberg gave the pope a miniature model of Aquila, the solar-powered drone which Facebook intends to use for beaming the internet to countries with no access.

The Vatican spokesman added that the atmosphere was informal, as the chat took place in the Santa Marta residence, the guest house in Vatican City where the pope lives.

“Zuckerberg and the wife delivered a message of hope, especially to those people who were most disadvantaged,” the Vatican said.

It added that the 79-year-old Pope who has an active Twitter account but no Facebook profile once confessed that he did not know how to use a computer.