This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/8144753.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Obama holds first talks with Pope | Obama holds first talks with Pope |
(30 minutes later) | |
President Barack Obama is holding his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. | President Barack Obama is holding his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. |
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier this week that he thought discussions would be "frank". | |
Correspondents say the two are likely to find common ground on subjects like Middle East peace, climate change and the global economic crisis. | |
They are also expected to address areas on which they disagree, including abortion and stem cell research. | |
As he shook hands with the pontiff, Mr Obama said it was a "great honour" to meet him. | |
'Friendly tone' | |
Mr Obama arrived at the Vatican from the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the Italian city of L'Aquila, and is expected to brief the Pope on the meeting. | |
"I think that there's a lot that they agree on that they'll get a chance to discuss," Mr Gibbs said. | |
Both men have made efforts to reach out to the Muslim world and share views about helping the poor cope with the global economic crisis. | |
This week the Pope published an encyclical - the highest form of papal teaching - in which he argued for an ethical approach towards economic policies and in reorganising the international financial system. | |
The BBC's David Willey reports from Rome that the Vatican has adopted a friendly tone towards the US president since his election last November, despite his change of policy from the Bush administration on funding for embryonic stem cell research. | |
The Vatican newspaper has gone as far to defend him against attacks by abortion rights opponents in America, asserting that he is not a pro-abortion president as some American Catholic bishops have said, our correspondent adds. | |
Before the meeting with the Pope, Mr Obama held talks with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarciso Bertone. | |
Afterwards, he is due to travel to the West African nation of Ghana. |