A reigning Pope and former Pope faced each other for the first time in at least 600 years yesterday when Pope Francis travelled south of Rome to meet his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis, who was elected on March 13, arrived by helicopter at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for a meeting and lunch with Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has been living here since he abdicated on February 28.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Francis embraced when the helicopter which brought the Pontiff from Rome landed at the residence.

He added that Pope Emeritus Benedict’s health was normal for a man of his age.

Pope Emeritus Benedict and Pope Benedict later prayed together in a chapel and held 45 minutes of private talks before starting a lunch, where they were joined by their two personal secretaries. Fr Lombardi said the atmosphere was “family-like”.

When they went to pray in the chapel, Pope Emeritus Benedict offered the place of honour, a kneeler before the altar, to Pope Francis, who declined, saying: “We are brothers, we pray together.” The two then prayed together from the same pew, Fr Lombardi said.

Pope Emeritus Benedict, who became the first Pope in 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, is temporarily living in the residence in the Alban Hills.

He will move back to the Vatican after the restoration of a convent where he is expected to live for the rest of his life.

Shortly before his resignation, Pope Emeritus Benedict, now 85 and in failing health, said he would be “withdrawing into prayer” and would live out his remaining days “hidden from the world”.

In February, on the last day of his nearly eight years as leader of the Catholic Church, he pledged his unconditional obedience to whoever would succeed him.

While the Vatican was not expected to give any information on what the two discussed, it was likely that the conversation included problems of Vatican administration.

The presence of a reigning Pope and a Pope Emeritus is new for the Church in the modern era, but experts say it should not cause difficulties unless Pope Emeritus Benedict tries to influence Pope Francis’s decisions, something he has promised not to do.

Pope Emeritus Benedict now wears a simple white cassock without a cape, while Pope Francis wears a white cassock with a short cape, the traditional garb for a Pope.