Obama, pope holds talks for first time
VATICAN CITY — President Barack Obama sat down with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Friday for frank but constructive talks between two men who agree on helping the poor but disagree on abortion and stem cell research.
"It's a great honor," Obama said, greeting the pope and thanking him for this first meeting, which lasted 30 minutes. They sat down at the pontiff's desk in the Papal Library and exchanged pleasantries before the media were ushered out of the ornate room.
The pope was heard asking about the Group of Eight summit, the meeting of developed nations that concluded before Obama arrived at Vatican City. Obama said the meeting "was very productive."
Afterward, the Vatican said they discussed immigration, the Middle East peace process and aid to developing nations. But the Vatican's statement also underscored the pair's deep disagreement on abortion.
"In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interest of all and which constitute a great challenge ... such as the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience," the statement said.
Even in his gift to the U.S. leader, the pope sought to communicate his beliefs. Benedict gave Obama a copy of a Vatican document on bioethics that hardened the church's opposition to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization. Obama supports stem cell research.
"Yes, this is what we had talked about," Obama said, telling the pope he would read it on the flight to Ghana.
Earlier, the pope's secretary, the Rev. Georg Ganswein, told reporters the document would "help the president better understand the position of the Catholic church."
Denis McDonough, a deputy national security aide to Obama, said the president looked forward to reading the document.
"They discussed a range of those issues and I think the president was eager to listen to the Holy Father," McDonough said aboard Air Force One. "He is eager to find common ground on these issues and to work aggressively to do that."
Obama is very popular in Italy and hundreds of people lining the broad avenue leading to St. Peter's Square cheered for him.
Obama's election presented a challenge for the Vatican after eight years of common ground with President George W. Bush in opposing abortion, an issue that drew them together despite Vatican opposition to the war in Iraq.
But the Vatican has been openly interested in Obama's views and scheduled an unusual afternoon meeting to accommodate him at the end of his Italian stay for a G-8 summit in the earthquake-stricken city of L'Aquila and just before he left for Ghana.
As a child in Indonesia, Obama's Muslim father enrolled him in Catholic school for a few years. Obama is a Protestant.
