Sean Spicer

[naviga:h3]Spicer finally gets to meet with pope[/naviga:h3]

WASHINGTON — Sean Spicer finally got to meet the pope.

The former White House press secretary attended an audience with Pope Francis Sunday as part of an annual meeting of the International Catholic Legislators Network, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke confirmed Tuesday.

A photograph posted on the Vatican Radio’s English Facebook page from the event shows Spicer sitting in the front row, taking photos of the pope with his phone. Others show a man dropping to his knee and proposing to his girlfriend in front of the pope.

Spicer, who is Roman Catholic, had been left off a list of White House officials who had the chance to meet with Francis in May when Trump visited the Vatican. The omission struck many as a slight by Trump against the embattled aide and drew sympathy on social media.

Spicer’s presence at the Vatican audience was first reported by America, the Jesuit magazine.

Spicer announced his resignation last month, but remains on the White House payroll through the end of August.

In announcing the audience Sunday morning, the Vatican news office said the pope gave a “brief greeting” to the 250 or so participants gathered in the Clementine Hall, one of the main reception rooms in the Apostolic Palace.

Both Vatican Radio and the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said the pope delivered a message that included his usual call for lawmakers to “build bridges” between different political perspectives.

[naviga:h3]Judge tosses out Sarah Palin lawsuit[/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Tuesday tossed out a defamation lawsuit by Sarah Palin against The New York Times, saying the former Alaska governor failed to show the newspaper knew it was publishing false statements in an editorial before quickly correcting them.

The written ruling came from Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.

The decision came weeks after the onetime Republican vice presidential nominee sued over an editorial titled “America’s Lethal Politics.” It was published in June after a gunman opened fire on Republican lawmakers in Virginia, wounding U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.

The Times’ editorial originally accused a Palin GOP political action committee of distributing a map depicting Democratic lawmakers beneath crosshairs before the 2011 shooting of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in Arizona. The newspaper issued a correction noting the map showed electoral districts, not people, in crosshairs.