She seemed troubled when the Pope retreated into the basilica, and asked her parents where he had gone.

The Pope, he said, "has gone to every big city and asked for a special audience with local Jewish leaders.

The Pope, so the story goes, asked Armstrong if he and his wife had children.

The Pope deplores the war and has asked for a cease-fire.

She knew the Pope had authority, and asked to appeal to him.

And the the Pope asks you, all of you, to do this.

Pope did not ask in what ways, for he often felt the same way about himself.

"But have we decided," the Pope asked softly, "that the time is right to release this news to the public?"

The 77-year-old Pope asked the young people to meditate on how to put their beliefs to the service of others.

Television microphones caught the conversation as the Pope, who is 77, asked the couple's ages.