Pope Francis talks with President Barack Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Tuesday. The Pope is spending three days in Washington before heading to New York and Philadelphia.
President Barack Obama laughs while exchanging gifts with Pope Francis at the Vatican March 27, 2014.
President Barack Obama greets Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican July 10, 2009. Obama arrived at the Vatican on Friday for his first meeting with Pope Benedict and what the White House says will be frank discussions on issues they agree and disagree on.
Pope Benedict XVI speaks with U.S. President George W. Bush during their meeting at the Vatican June 9, 2007.
President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, greet Pope John Paul II during their meeting at the Vatican June 4, 2004. Pope John Paul told President Bush that Iraq had to regain sovereignty swiftly and deplored the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.
President Bill Clinton talks to Pope John Paul II during an audience at the Vatican June 2, 1994.
U.S. President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush walk with Pope John Paul II after their meeting in the Vatican library, on May 27, 1989.
Pope John Paul II shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan during their meeting at the Vatican June 6, 1987.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter grins broadly as he listens to an address by Pope John Paul to dignitaries gathered on the White House South Lawn in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 6, 1979.
U.S. President Richard Nixon presents Pope Paul VI with a ceramics plant and a robin sculpture by American artist Bohem, and a book on the works of the sculptor, as the President met the pontiff for talks on problems of world peace. The meeting took place in the Pope's private studio in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican in Vatican City, March 2, 1969. In center background stand Msgr. William Carew of Canada, who acted as interpreter at the meeting, and in far left background, Msgr. Mario Nasally Rocca di Corneliano, Papal Chamberlain.
Pope Paul VI, left, and President Lyndon B. Johnson are seen during the Pontiff's visit to New York in this Oct. 4, 1965 file photo. The trip presented protocol problems. President Johnson wanted to see him, but the pontiff was a chief of a state not officially recognized by the U.S. The solution: Johnson flew to New York for dinner at the apartment of his friend Arthur Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the pontiff was welcomed to Johnson's suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel the next day.
President John F. Kennedy and Pope Paul VI talk at the Vatican in this July 2, 1963 file photo. Kennedy's meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican was historic: the first Roman Catholic president of the United States was seeing the Roman Catholic pontiff only days after his coronation. Kennedy - who struggled against anti-Catholic bias during his presidential campaign - only shook hands with the pope rather than kissing his ring, as is the usual practice for Catholics.
President Eisenhower and Pope John XXIII bow as they take leave of each other at end of a private audience on Dec. 6, 1959 at the Vatican. In the background, from left, are Lt. Col. Vernon Walters, Ike's interpreter, and the President's son, Major John Eisenhower and his wife, Barbara.
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