Gaffe at the Vatican

From The Hindu:

The Pope is addressed `Your Holiness' and Roman Catholics call him `The Holy Father.'

But somewhere in the tumble dryer that is the part of the U.S. President's brain set aside for words, the two concepts got tangled and he told Associated Press:

"I think His Holy Father will be pleased to know that much of our foreign policy is based on the admonition to whom much is given, much is required."

No doubt Pope Benedict, whom Mr. Bush later described as "very smart," was able to deconstruct the rest of the sentence.

But before he got down to cases with Mr. Bush, the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church on Saturday had the unusual experience of being called `sir.'

"It's good to be with you, sir," said Mr. Bush as he sat down.