Vatican Pool/Getty Images(ROME) — President Donald Trump and Pope Francis exchanged gifts Wednesday following their cordial, private meeting at the Vatican that lasted about 30 minutes.
In standard practice, the pope gave rosaries to the president’s visiting U.S. delegation, including first lady Melania Trump and the president’s son-in-law and daughter, White House advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
The pope gave the president a large medal by a Roman artist, inscribed with an olive branch — a symbol of peace.
Pope Francis also gave Trump this year’s “message of peace” with a personalized inscription he had written.
“We can use peace,” Trump said. “That’s so beautiful. Thank you.”
Other gifts from the pope include his three writings on the topics of family, the joy of the gospel and “care of our common home, the environment,” which the pope said he gives to all Catholics.
Included in these three writings is Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” in which he calls for global action to combat climate change.
“Well I’ll be reading them,” Trump said after receiving the gifts.
In return, President Trump gave Pope Francis a set of books by civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented in a custom, hand-made display case.
“I think you will enjoy them,” Trump told the pope.
The first-edition collection includes Stride Toward Freedom, The Measure of a Man, Why We Can’t Wait, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? and The Strength to Love, which has Dr. King’s signature.
According to the White House, each book is “custom-bound and accented with gold hand-tooling.”
In addition to the books, Trump gave the pope a piece of the Dr. King monument, the Stone of Hope, engraved with a quote, and a hand-made bronze sculpture of a floating lotus by a Florida artist titled “Rising Above.” The sculpture represents “hope for a peaceful tomorrow” the White House said.
Before parting ways, President Trump thanked the pontiff and said, “I won’t forget what you said.”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.