The President, Mrs McAleese, had a brief private audience with the Pope in the Vatican yesterday accompanied by her family.
Mrs McAleese, her husband Martin and their three children met Pope Benedict XVI at the end of his weekly general audience, her spokeswoman said. The family had been in Rome on a four-day private break, and indicated their wish to take part in the weekly general audience, attended yesterday by some 20,000 people.
According to the spokeswoman, when the Vatican heard that the President and her family were to be in the audience they invited them to have a brief private meeting with Pope Benedict afterwards. This lasted "five to 10 minutes", the spokeswoman said. There was nothing of an official nature discussed, said the spokeswoman, who described it as a "friendly courtesy meeting".
Pope Benedict also had brief private meetings with Bethlehem's mayor Victor Batarseh and Madagascar's prime minister Jacques Sylla. He travelled by helicopter from his summer residence in Castelgandolfo for yesterday's ceremony.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met Pope Benedict in the Vatican in July. They discussed Northern Ireland, church-state dialogue and the European constitution. President McAleese arrived in Rome at the weekend and stayed in a guest suite at the Pontifical Irish College.
