Pope and Bush find common ground on abortion

The Pope opened the doors of his hilltop summer residence to President Bush today for their first meeting, a closed-door session underpinned by touchy issues of capital punishment and embryonic stem cell research.

First lady Laura Bush, a Methodist like her husband, and 19-year-old daughter Barbara followed old Catholic tradition and covered their hair with black lace mantillas for their papal audience at the lakeside Castel Gandolfo in the foothills south of Rome.