U.S. President Barack Obama and Pope Francis met Thursday for the first time at Vatican City, offering a chance for a reset of sorts between the administration and Catholic leadership following years of strained relations.
The two world leaders greeted each other with a smile and a handshake, and posed for pictures before sitting down across a table from each other.
The goal of the meeting: Focus on areas where two of the world’s most influential men agree and gently tread ground where they differ.
The President and the Pontiff will, as the White House said in a statement, focus on “shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing (income) inequality” and gingerly navigate such thornier topics as same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion, CNN informs.
