Bush at Vatican meeting with Pope

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ROME, June 13 (Agencies): Pope Benedict XVI gave President Bush a rare peak Friday of the Vatican Gardens, a spot where popes pray privately and only special guests are allowed to stroll. "Your eminence, you're looking good," Bush told the pope as the two shared a warm greeting. Normally, VIPS are received in the pope's library in the Apostolic Palace. That's where Bush had his first meeting with Benedict in June 2007.

But in an apparent gesture of appreciation for the warm welcome Bush gave him in Washington in April, Benedict welcomed the president and first lady Laura Bush near St. John's Tower in the lush Vatican Gardens.

The presidential motorcade had bounded through downtown Rome, with people leaning out balconies and popping out of their businesses to watch.

Bush's limousine pulled into St. Peter's Square and continued on to St. John's Tower, where he and Mrs. Bush were greeted by the pope.

On a brief tour, Benedict and Bush peered out from a tower balcony, and the president seemed awed by the view all around. "This is fantastic up here," Bush said. "Thank you so much for showing me this." White House press secretary Dana Perino said the two leaders have the kind of relationship that allows them to speak frankly. They were to discuss such issues as human rights, HIV and AIDS in Africa, and poverty around the world, she said.

After their private meeting ended, Bush and Benedict posed for official photographs and exchanged gifts.

The president gave the pontiff a photograph of the two walking along the White House colonnade on their way to the Oval Office in April. The picture was presented in a sterling silver frame with an engraved presidential seal. Benedict gave Bush a framed photograph and four volumes on St. Peter's Basilica. Members of the presidential entourage received rosaries and medals of the pontificate.

Bush and the pope then strolled through the gardens to see the Lourdes Grotto, which was donated to Pope Leo XIII at the turn of the century by French Catholics.