Google chairman Eric Schmidt is going to meet the Pope

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and executive chairman of Google's parent company, Alphabet, is going to meet Pope Francis on Friday at the Vatican in Rome, the Guardian reports.

The Silicon Valley billionaire, thought to be worth around $10 billion (£6.9 billion), will meet with the Pope for just 15 minutes, according to a Guardian source.

The private meeting will also be attended by Jared Cohen, a former US state department official who is now head of Google Ideas, according to a different source cited by The Guardian.

Business Insider has contacted Google to confirm the meeting but the company is yet to respond.

Pope Francis, aged 79, has previously said that he does not own a computer but he seems to be aware of the internet's power, describing it as a "gift from God" because of its ability to offer "immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity."

"This is something truly good," he said in a speech on World Communications Day in 2014.

Despite not owning his own computer, the Pope has an official Twitter account with 8.4 million followers. He's also participated in two live Google Hangouts from the Vatican.