“Thank you. Thank you. I won’t forget what you said,” said U.S. President Donald Trump as he told Pope Francis that he would take his words to heart.
Mr. Trump was with the pope for 30-minutes at the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican in a closed-door meeting before taking part in a joint photo session and exchange of gifts.
“Honor of a lifetime to meet His Holiness Pope Francis,” said Mr. Trump. “I leave the Vatican more determined than ever to pursue PEACE in our world.”
Mr. Trump is on a 9-day international trip, which includes Saudi Arabia, Israel, and that Vatican, the three spiritual homelands of the world’s three main monotheistic religions as he attempts to parallel the public work of the Vatican to bring peace between religions. Mr. Trump and his entourage will also visit Brussels to connect with the leaders of the European Union, and the G-7 summit in Sicily.
Pope Francis gave Trump a signed and bound copy of his remarks from the last World Peace Day in September, and a set of English-language translations of his papal writings including Laudato Si, his 2015 encyclical on climate change. Trump is a noted climate skeptic. No doubt the pope hopes to influence Mr. Trump.
“Well, I’ll be reading them,” Trump said. “We can use peace,” he added.
Trump’s gift to Francis was a boxed set of the writings of Martin Luther King Jr., for whom Francis has expressed admiration in the past.
The two men exchanged verbal jabs during last year’s presidential campaign, with Francis saying Trump’s views were not those of a Christian. Trump responded that the pontiff’s remarks were “disgraceful.” However, the meeting at the Vatican was cordial.
In a statement, the Vatican expressed hope that the encounter would be the start of a “serene collaboration” with the Trump administration, a goal that strengthens both the Vatican and the United States on the world stage.
It said Trump and Francis covered topics including health care, education, migration, international affairs, and interreligious dialogue. There were no details of what was said, though both men probably spoke quite frankly.
“It’s important to both sides that there are open lines of communication,” said Giampaolo Malgeri, a professor of political science and international relations at Rome’s LUMSA Catholic University. Malgeri said the most important aspect of the meeting was to establish new ties between the White House and the Holy See.
The Italian media dubbed the encounter the “G-2” — a play on the G-7, or Group of Seven summit of the world’s most powerful leaders that Trump also met.
The audience with Francis came 124 days into Mr. Trump’s presidency, earlier than any of the 29 other meetings between a U.S. leader and a pontiff. George H.W. Bush, who visited Pope John Paul II 127 days into his presidency in 1989, held the previous record.
The Trump entourage — which included Trump’s daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security advisor H.R. McMaster — also visited the Sistine Chapel.
The first lady toured the pediatric care unit at the Bambino Gesu hospital on the outskirts of the Vatican city-state. Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa had also visited the hospital.
President Trump also met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni later in the day.
Mr. Trump’s efforts to “make America great again,” would certainly include collaboration with the Vatican.
“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:11.