Nicholas Sarkozy met Pope Benedict yesterday in Rome, but left his new girlfriend Carla Bruni in Paris.It had been widely predicted that the 39-year-old Ms Bruni, who has a six-year-old son by a former partner, would accompany Mr Sarkozy.
However, the twice-divorced French president arrived at the Vatican alone.
“Bienvenue!” said Pope Benedict and offered to conduct the meeting in French, commenting that he had learned it “at school”.
Despite his failed marriages, Mr Sarkozy describes himself as a “lapsed Catholic” and had a Catholic upbringing.
abandoned by his father, a Hungarian immigrant, and was heavily influenced instead by his grandfather, a Sephardic Jew who converted to Catholicism.
He was baptised and educated at the Cours Saint-Louis de Monceau, a private Catholic middle and high school in Paris’ 17th arrondissement.
He described the late John Paul II as his “role model” and has spoken of the need for “spirituality in society".
He has also been among the few voices against the new French law which forbids citizens from wearing religious symbols.
Mr Sarkozy gave the Pope a copy of his book, The Republic, Religion and Hope, which he co-wrote in 2004 with Father Philippe Verdin and Colin Thibaud, a philosopher.
The book argues that French society needs religious instruction, and that the young should not be brought up entirely secular.
The book also advocates reducing the separation between church and state.
The conversation between the two men continued for around half-an-hour, and touched on the role of religion in France.
Mr Sarkozy also extended a formal invitation to Benedict to visit France next year, for the 150th anniversary celebrations of the visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
Ms Bruni said she had not accompanied Mr Sarkozy to avoid embarrassing him.
“It was out of the question,” she said. She told Italian state television that she would not discuss their relationship “either today or in the future”.
The Italian press had speculated that Ms Bruni was eager to come, and had cited sources in the president’s camp that said she would be on the official list.
She was never expected to be visit the Vatican, but it was thought that she would accompany Mr Sarkozy to a dinner with Romano Prodi and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, his Italian and Spanish counterparts.
Attention on the couple will now switch to whether or not Ms Bruni will accompany him on a state visit to London in March.
The couple have only been seeing each other for two months, and their meetings have usually been chaperoned by Ms Bruni’s mother, Marisa.
Mr Sarkozy is also expected to discuss Alitalia with Mr Prodi, since Air France is one of two bidders targeting the ailing Italian national carrier.
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