VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - President Bush and Pope John Paul Tuesday discussed the child sex scandals that have rocked the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, and the pope said he hoped they could meet again in future.
The pope, whose health has been failing, appeared relatively well as he greeted Bush in his private study in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.
As Bush was leaving the Vatican after 20 minutes of private talks, the pope, whose physical frailty has led to speculation that he may retire early rather than rule for life, said "God Bless America" and told Bush:
"I hope to be able to meet you again."
The pope, who has difficulty walking, received Bush standing at his desk in his frescoed study.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you so much for receiving me," Bush said.
After the two sat down, the pope smiled and brought his hands to his head, shielding his head from photographers' flashes in a joking gesture.
"They'll make you look good, your holy father," Bush responded, combining the two phrases that are normally used to address the pope -- "your holiness" and "holy father."
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer later confirmed that in the 20-minute private talks that followed, Bush brought up the topic of the pedophilia scandal back home.
"He did raise the issue exactly as he said he would this morning," Fleischer said, adding that they also discussed religious freedom in Russia, U.S. relations with Russia and the Middle East situation.
By contrast, a Vatican statement issued later made only a passing reference to the sex abuse scandal, saying the pope told Bush that he "expressed his faith in the spiritual resources of American Catholics despite the difficulties of the moment."
Bush, in Italy for a meeting of NATO and Russian leaders at an airbase outside Rome, met the pope at the end of a week-long European trip.
He arrived amid tight security in a long motorcade of U.S. and Italian cars with all traffic around the Vatican blocked.
Bush said before the meeting that he planned to discuss the pedophilia crisis that has shaken the U.S. Catholic Church.
"I will tell him that I am concerned about the Catholic Church in America. I am concerned about its standing. I say that because the Catholic Church is an incredibly important institution in our country," Bush told reporters.
The American Catholic Church has been hit by a series of sex scandals involving priests that led the pope to call U.S. Church leaders to the Vatican for an unprecedented summit last month.
The meeting took place amid growing concern among Catholics around the world over the pope's frailty.
The deterioration in the health of the leader of the world's one billion Roman Catholics was evident during his five-day trip to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, which ended Sunday.
It was not clear if the two discussed the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
The pope was shaken by the September 11 attacks and tacitly gave his blessing to the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
SCANDALS A GROWING CONCERN
The child sex scandal, which began in the Boston archdiocese, shows little sign of abating.
Earlier this week Milwaukee's now-retired archbishop Rembert Weakland admitted he paid off a former theology student to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter two decades ago.
In Boston, court documents released in the sex abuse case of defrocked priest John Geoghan showed Cardinal Bernard Law knew of allegations against Geoghan but failed to keep him away from children.
The scandal has spread across the country, involving many dioceses. Priests have been suspended or forced to step down over allegations and some have been charged criminally.
New York's archbishop, Cardinal Edward Egan, has been under fire for alleged laxity in disciplining pedophile priests and assisting victims, both in New York and previously as bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
In Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the largest American archdiocese, has admitted keeping secret a case of child sexual abuse by a priest for 14 years, and apologized for his inaction.
A suit in that case was filed in federal court last week.
U.S. bishops gather next month in Dallas to formulate a policy on how to deal with priests accused of sexual abuse.
Relations between Bush, a born-again Christian, and the pope have been generally good, a marked contrast with the Vatican's relations with previous U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Like his father, a former U.S. president, Bush and the pope see eye-to-eye on major issues of morality, sharing the same tough anti-abortion stance.
Relations with the Clinton administration were marred by a bitter clash between the U.S. and Vatican delegations over abortion rights at a 1994 U.N. population conference in Cairo.