VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Pope Benedict XVI on Friday that he would do everything possible to reduce the number of abortions in the United States, the Vatican said. Obama and Benedict held private talks for about 40 minutes in the pope's frescoed study in the Vatican's apostolic palace and the Vatican said bioethics and life issues were a central part of the discussion.

In a surprise move, the pontiff gave Obama a booklet explaining Vatican opposition to practices such
as abortion and embryonic stem cell research, which Obama supports. ''Obama told the pope of his commitment to reduce the number of abortions and of his attention and respect for the positions of the Catholic Church,'' Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters after he was briefed by the pope.

Obama supports abortion rights and says his policy is to change economic and social conditions so as to put more women in situations where they do not feel they have to have an abortion.

The pope gave Obama, who last March lifted restrictions of federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, a copy of a recent Vatican document on bio-ethics in which the Holy See explains its opposition to such practices.

''Dignitas Personae'' (dignity of a person) condemns artificial fertilization and other techniques used by many couples and also says human cloning, ''designer babies'' and embryonic stem-cell research are immoral.

The document defends life from conception to natural death and a Vatican statement issued after the meeting said the topics discussed included ''the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience.''

The pope's private secretary told reporters after the meeting: ''This reading can help the president better understand the Church's position on these issues.''

''We know that this (abortion) is a crucial theme for the pope. There is no need to hide it. It (giving him the booklet) was an attempt to be clear, it was not polemical,'' Lombardi said.

Lombardi said the pope was ''very impressed'' by Obama and that the pontiff was ''extremely satisfied'' with the talks.

Obama told the pope during a picture-taking session after the private part of the audience: ''We look forward to a very strong relationship between our two countries.'' The pope also gave the president a copy of his latest encyclical, ''Charity in Truth,'' which called for a ''world political authority'' to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

Obama, who was going to the airport from the Vatican, joked to the pope when he gave him the two documents: ''I'll have something to read on the plane.''

Unlike his predecessor George Bush, Obama and the pope do not see eye-to-eye on abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.

The Vatican condemns embryonic stem cell research, which scientists say can lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, because it involves the destruction of embryos. Before he arrived at the Vatican, Michelle Obama and their children Malia and Sasha were given a private tour of St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Michelle Obama joined her husband and the pope after the private talks ended.

Pope presses Obama on abortion, stem cells

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem cell research in his first meeting with President Barack Obama, pressing the Vatican's case with the US leader who is already under fire on those issues from some conservative Catholics and bishops back home.

Friday's 30-minute meeting was described by both sides as positive — constructive talks between two men who agree on helping the poor and pushing for Middle East peace but disagree on what the Vatican considers prime ethical issues.

"It's a great honor,'' Obama said, greeting the pope and thanking him for this first meeting.

Afterward, the Vatican said the leaders discussed immigration, the Middle East peace process and aid to developing nations. But the Vatican's statement also underscored the pair's deep disagreement on abortion.

"In the course of their cordial exchanges, the conversation turned first of all to questions which are in the interest of all and which constitute a great challenge ... such as the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience,'' the statement said.

Benedict's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, insisted the talks between the two leaders were not "polemical'' and that the issues in the 2008 document were known to be of special interest to the church in America. He said Benedict told him after the meeting that Obama pledged to seek to reduce abortions, a promise the president made publicly during a visit to Notre Dame University that was contested by conservatives.

Denis McDonough, a deputy White House national security aide, said of the pope and Obama, "They discussed a range of those issues, and I think the president was eager to listen to the Holy Father.'' He said Obama was "eager to find common ground on these issues and to work aggressively to do that.''

But he said there may be some issues on which they can't agree.

McDonough said the topics discussed included interfaith dialogue, a shared desire for Middle East peace, the president's effort to reach out to Muslims, a mutual desire to fight militarism and extremism and a shared interest in overhauling immigration rules and practices.

Some Catholic activists and American bishops have been outspoken in their criticism of Obama, though polls have shown he received a majority of Catholic votes.

"There's no question what the pope made his priority,'' said John Allen, a Vatican expert for the National Catholic Reporter.

"When other leaders visited him this week they were only given his new encyclical.''

Obama is very popular in Italy, and hundreds of people lining the broad avenue leading to St. Peter's Square cheered his limousine as it went by. Obama waved.

His election presented a challenge for the Vatican after eight years of common ground with President George W. Bush in opposing abortion, an issue that drew them together despite Vatican opposition to the war in Iraq.

But the Vatican has been openly interested in Obama's views and scheduled an unusual afternoon meeting to accommodate him at the end of his Italian stay for a G-8 summit in the earthquake stricken city of L'Aquila.

L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaper, gave Obama a positive review after his first 100 days in office. In a front-page editorial, it said that even on ethical questions Obama hadn't confirmed the "radical'' direction he discussed during the campaign.

In an interview with Catholic journalists before meeting the pope, Obama said he would tell Benedict of his concern that the global financial crisis not be "borne disproportionally by the most poor and vulnerable countries.''

Just this week, Benedict issued a major document calling for a new world financial order guided by ethics and a search for the common good, denouncing a profit-at-all-cost mentality blamed for the global financial meltdown.

As Obama has pledged to step up efforts for Middle East peace through a two-state solution, Benedict made a similar appeal during a trip in May to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. He issued the Vatican's strongest call yet for a Palestinian state.

Obama's wife, Michelle, joined him at the end of the meeting with Benedict, and gifts were exchanged. Daughters Malia and Sasha, who accompanied their parents on the trip, also met the pope.

Obama gave Benedict a letter from Sen. Edward Kennedy, who was diagnosed a year ago with brain cancer. McDonough said Obama asked the pope to pray for Kennedy, a member of one of the United States' most prominent Roman Catholic families and a politically ally of the president.