Pope Francis, Obama had 'private' 40-minute meeting in White House
September 24, 2015 3:37am
The White House said on Wednesday that it would not be able to give much detail on the discussion between President Barack Obama and Pope Francis because the meeting was private.
 
Obama and Pope Francis met in the Oval Office on Wednesday (September 23) morning shortly after they both delivered remarks on the White House lawn.
 
"It did last about 40 minutes, and I think that all of you, or at least your representatives in the pool did have an opportunity to observe at least the beginning of that discussion. You saw the two men walking through the colonnade of the White House, and the President stopped on a couple of occasions to describe the surroundings to the pope who is visiting the White House for the first time. And I think it is, the President certainly did enjoy the opportunity to play host today and it was an opportunity for the President to show the pope around the White House, to introduce the Pope to senior members of his staff, the Catholic members of his staff did have an opportunity to have a one on one interaction with the pope. So this was a visit that the president genuinely enjoyed, but I'm unable to give you much detail about their private discussions," said White House Spokesman Josh Earnest.
 
In his White House speech Pope Francis urged the United States to help tackle climate change and called on Americans to build a truly tolerant and inclusive society, as he struck a political tone on his first visit to the world's richest nation.
 
But Earnest said that the Pope's visit was not political in nature.
 
"The goal of the pope's visit and certainly the goal of the meeting was not to advance anyone's political agenda. And I think listening to the pope's comments I think it was clear that he was speaking with a passion and a conviction about the need to act on climate issues that was deeply rooted in his faith. So he wasn't seeking to deliver a political message, he was speaking from the heart and with a moral conviction that I think will resonate with people all around the world," he said.
 
Pressed by journalists on whether Francis's comments on climate change would influence debate over the issue in the U.S., Earnest said it was too soon to know.
 
"I think time will tell and I think the pope himself acknowledge that, acknowledged the opportunity that people around the world have to seize this opportunity. The pope did make a conscious decision to capitalize on this high profile moment to deliver this message," he said.  — Reuters

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