PICTURED: Pope Francis stony-faced as he meets Trump
The most highly anticipated engagement on President Donald Trump’s first foreign odyssey had the Pope looking less than impressed to meet him.
Trump is in the middle of a nine-day foreign tour of religions - the Vatican is his third stop.
A high-profile critic of the president, Pope Francis and Trump exchanged sharp words during the presidential campaign last year.
The Pope didn’t smile as he greeted Trump outside his study as the pair met for the first time.
Trump, seeming subdued, said “it is a great honour”.
The two men then posed for photographs, the Pope keeping a stern face while Trump beamed for the cameras.
The Vatican described the discussions as "cordial" and emphasised the two men's joint opposition to abortion and shared concern for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
Trump was presented with a medallion engraved with an olive tree from the Pope, the international symbol of peace.
During a war of words last year, the Pope said a man who thinks about building walls and not bridges is "not Christian" - a sharp reprimand for Trump's vow to build a wall along the US border with Mexico.
Trump said it was "disgraceful" of the Argentine-born Pope, who represents just over half of the world's two billion Christians, to question his faith.
The men have differences over issues ranging from the environment to the plight of migrants and the poor.
The foreign tour is due to end on Saturday.
Trump has met leaders of Muslim nations in Saudi Arabia and visiting holy sites in Jerusalem so far.
What happened at the meeting between Trump and the pope?
