Not quite an ivory tower, but close

While some would rather put him in the Tower of London, President George Bush will be taken to a very special spot inside the Vatican when he visits the Pope this week.

Pope Benedict will unusually host talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in a restored medieval tower on Friday, to repay him for a warm reception at the White House, the Vatican said.

The pope usually receives heads of state in his private study in the Apostolic Palace, overlooking St Peter’s Square.

But Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the change was to repay Bush for “the cordiality of the meeting at the White House” when the pope visited the United States in April.

St. John’s Tower is a round structure on a hilltop inside the Vatican gardens that is sometimes used as a residence for important guests.

That place intrigued me on our walk through the magnificent Vatican gardens, when the host explained that the tower is sometimes used for special visitors. It’s charming and serene, tucked in this private retreat like setting.

The late Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, restored the tower as a place where he could work in peace.

It’s a long way from the huge South Lawn of the White House where the two began their most recent conversation, and the perfect place to continue it.