Italians speculate Bush to convert

Garden talks at Holy See rare
John Phillips
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Saturday, June 14, 2008

ROME President Bush received an unprecedented welcome Friday from Pope Benedict XVI in the tranquil Vatican Gardens in a break with protocol that fueled speculation in Italian newspapers that the U.S. leader may be considering converting to Roman Catholicism.

"Such an honor, such an honor," Mr. Bush said to the pontiff as Benedict strolled with him past the bubbling fountains and imposing trees of the gardens that are rarely seen by anyone other than the pope's close entourage in his tiny sovereign state.

The manicured park is traditionally where popes take time off to meditate and recover from the rigors of Vatican diplomacy. the rest