France, April 10 -- Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, attended a private meeting with the American Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace, which lasted around an hour - significantly longer than a typical papal audience.

The French leader presented the pope, who is a sports enthusiast, with a signed jersey from France's basketball team, as well as a reproduction of a 17th-century map by missionary Jacques Marquette, a collection of writings by Georges Bernanos and an official book on the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Elysee said.

Details of the talks were not immediately released, but Macron had been expected to focus on "a resolution to the Middle East crisis", the presidency said ahead of the meeting. Concerns over...