YOU HAVE to hand it to Barack Obama, he is one “cool dude”. Who else could pull into St Peter’s Square in Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI in a huge stretch limo, complete with tinted windows and wearing a pair of “shades”?
As his 54-car convoy pulled into the Vatican, he received the pop star treatment from some of the hundreds of tourists lining the Via Della Conciliazione which leads up to the square, with people applauding and screaming their approval.
“I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him”, shouted one young Italian woman, clearly delighted to have been present in the Holy See on the day that the first black US president came to town.
On the diplomatic front, there is every indication that this first ever meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and President Obama was a resounding success. In the build-up to this audience, much had been made of possible differences between the two men on issues such as abortion and stem cell research. But judging from the body language both before and after their meeting, those differences did not prove insuperable. At the end of a 35-minute audience in the Pontifical Library, the pope told the president that he would pray for him, whilst the president responded: “Thank you very much, I’m really grateful, I look forward to a very strong relationship between our two countries.”
Earlier, the two men had greeted one another warmly at the entrance to the library.
As the two men sat down to talk, and as photographers snapped away at them, Mr Obama joked: “I’m sure you’re used to having your picture taken. Myself, I’m still getting used to it.”
Asked by the pope about the G8 summit in L’Aquila, central Italy this week, Mr Obama replied that it had been “very productive”, underlining that the G8 leaders had pledged $20 billion worth of food and agricultural aid for the world’s most impoverished countries.
At the end of their meeting, Mr Obama and the pope were joined by the Obama family.
When the two men exchanged gifts, the pope pointed to a painting of St Peter’s Square, a present for the Obamas, prompting Mr Obama to comment: “It’s beautiful, we’re going to have to find a place of honour for this.”
In a communique yesterday evening, the Vatican’s press office indicated that the two men had touched on issues such as “the defence and promotion of life”.
While they may have agreed to differ on such matters, the Vatican statement also indicated “general agreement” on issues such as the peace process in the Middle East, food security, drug trafficking, immigration and the global economic crisis.
Immediately after his meeting with the pope, Mr Obama and his entourage headed for the airport, with a destination of Accra, Ghana, where he will make a whistle-stop one-day visit.
Highlights of the Ghana visit today will be a tour of a coastal fort once used as a warehouse for African slaves destined for the Americas, as well as a keynote Africa policy speech to parliament.