US

Pope and Bush call for peace in the Middle East

Article published on the 2008-04-16 Latest update 2008-04-17 12:44 TU

Pope Benedict XVI and President George W Bush
(Photo : Reuters)

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his birthday with a 21-gun salute and 9,000 well-wishers on the White House’s south lawn on Wednesday, before meeting privately with US President George W Bush.

Benedict XVI is only the second pope to visit the United States and the first in 29 years.

 

In public statements, the two refrained from broaching the many subjects – from the death penalty to torture – on which they disagree. They did, however, issue a joint statement following their private meeting expressing "their common concern for the situation in Iraq and particularly the precarious state of Christian communities there and elsewhere in the region".

 

Benedict and Bush went further to say that they supported a two-state solution in the Middle East, with Israel and Palestine each having an independent state.

 

The Pope has openly criticised the US administration’s policies, saying in his Easter message last year that "nothing good comes out of Iraq" and more recently decrying the "grim sound of arms" in Iraq.

 

Before he even arrived, the pontiff said he was "deeply ashamed" over the paedophile priest scandal which has cost the Catholic church millions of dollars in damages in the US. The sexual abuse scandal, which broke in 2002, cost the Catholic Church over three billion dollars in damages.