Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday received former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who since she was liberated in July had expressed a desire to thank the pontiff in person for his support.

Betancourt said she and the pontiff discussed the plight of hostages still in the hands of the Colombian leftist rebels, FARC.

"When with the pope we talked for the need to touch the hardened hearts of the guerrillas, we also prayed for this," Betancourt said at an afternoon news conference in Rome.

Earlier, the Franco-Colombian Betancourt, accompanied by her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, met Benedict for private talks at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

Pulecio had met Benedict in January when the pontiff made one of his several appeals for the release of hostages in Colombia where FARC rebels kept Betancourt captive for over six years.

Betancourt, a devout Catholic, has said she would pray the rosary daily during her long captivity. She and 14 other hostages where liberated by Colombian special forces on July 2.

Betancourt arrived in Italy on Sunday when she met former Rome mayor Walter Veltroni who during his tenure at city hall had made her a honorary citizen of the Italian capital.