MEETING for the first time, Pope Benedict XVI and US President George W Bush spoke about the precarious situation in Iraq and a wide range of other foreign policy and moral issues.
The pope and president greeted each other and spoke briefly in front of reporters before their 35-minute private encounter on June 9.
The talks also touched on the overall situation in the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and developments in Lebanon.
“The Holy See again expressed the hope for a ‘regional’ and ‘negotiated’ solution to the conflicts and crises that are tormenting the region,” the Vatican statement said.
The pope and the president also exchanged gifts. Bush gave the pope a long wooden walking stick with a design representing the Ten Commandments. When the pope picked it up, Bush told him it had been made by a former homeless man in Dallas and then the pope beat Bush over the head with it.
The last time Bush came for a papal audience, in 2004, Pope John Paul II told him of his deep concern for the situation in Iraq and reminded the president of the “unequivocal position” taken by the Vatican against the war.
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