CNN

(CNN) - President Obama presented Pope Benedict XVI a letter from Sen. Edward Kennedy during their meeting at the Vatican Friday, and asked the Pontiff to pray for the senator, who is being treated for brain cancer.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters the president called the Massachusetts Democrat after the meeting. Gibbs said the two spoke for about 10 minutes as Air Force One left Rome heading for Ghana, "telling him he had delivered the letter on his behalf to the Pope."

The letter was described as personal. According to Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, "the contents of the letter were not known to anyone I know of except Senator Kennedy."

McDonough said Obama and the Pope discussed Kennedy at the end of their half-hour discussion. He told reporters the president "asked that the Holy Father pray for ...Sen. Kennedy, who as we all know is ill, and whose brother obviously broke an important barrier in our country by being the first Catholic president," according to a transcript released by the White House.

The 77-year-old Kennedy was diagnosed with the brain tumor after suffering seizures in May 2008.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama will meet Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on July 10, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced Wednesday.

In 2008, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi kissed the papal ring worn by Pope Benedict XVI, pictured above. Pelosi met the pontiff Wednesday at the Vatican in a closed-door meeting following the General Audience.

(CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday at the Vatican in a closed-door meeting following the General Audience.

“In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel,” the Speaker said in a statement released following her meeting with the pontiff.

But the office of the Holy See highlighted another aspect of the discussion between the two – their views on Catholic politicians’ stances on abortion.

“His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development,” says a statement released by the Vatican.

Pelosi, who refers to herself as an “ardent” Catholic, has been criticized by bishops for her dissent from traditional church views on abortion for her position in favor of abortion rights. Pope Benedict XVI has publicly stated individuals who support abortion rights should not receive communion.

Pelosi’s meeting with Pope Benedict came on the Speaker’s fourth day in her eight-day trip in Italy. The Speaker is leading a congressional delegation on an official visit to the Italian Republic.