It was Bush who referred to abortion, a hot-button issue particularly with the presidential election in November.
"In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred...," Bush said.
A joint statement said their private talks later in the Oval Office addressed "the promotion of life, matrimony and the family," human rights and religious freedom, sustainable development, the struggle against poverty and the Middle East, particularly Iraq and the Isareli-Palestinian conflict.
"The two reaffirmed their total rejection of terrorism as well as the manipulation of religion to justify immoral and violent acts against innocents. They further touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights," the statement said.
GLOBAL SOLIDARITY, PATIENT DIPLOMACY
The Pope said freedom "is not only a gift but also a summons to personal responsibility" toward the less fortunate.
"Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation," the pope said.
Looking forward to his UN speech on Friday, the pope said the need for global solidarity is "as urgent as ever if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity" and secure a place at "that table which God's bounty has set for all his children."
He ended his speech with a loud "God bless America".
Later on Wednesday, the Pope was addressing US bishops to discuss the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests, which he said had left the whole Church "deeply ashamed".
Outside the White House, some 200 people protested, with one banner reading "Catholic priests are pedophiles" and Protestant fundamentalists shouted "AntiChrist".
But the overwhelming number of people who lined his motorcade route were joyous Catholics, dancing and shaking tambourines as they waited for hours to glimpse the Pope.
