Clinton did not listen to the Pope, claims surgeon
The Pope found Bill Clinton the hardest person to have a conversation with among all the world's leaders, his surgeon claims.
In a magazine interview, he said the Pope was not able have a proper conversation because the president would be distracted by the paintings on the walls at the Vatican.
According to Gianfranco Fineschi, the surgeon who operated on the John Paul II in 1994, Mr Clinton's visit in the same year proved extremely difficult because the president didn't listen while the Catholic leader was speaking.
The surgeon makes his claims in an interview published in the Italian weekly magazine Oggi. He said the Pope told him: "The only leader I did not manage to have a proper conversation with was Clinton. I was speaking and he was looking at one of the walls, admiring the frescos and paintings.
"He was not listening to me."
After the Vatican meeting, Mr Clinton had admitted the two men had "genuine differences" over the issue of abortion.
