On Iraq, pope’s message to Bush is quiet but firm

With Italians converging on Rome to decry the war in Iraq, President Bush received a more subtle but pointed message Saturday about America’s Middle East policy in his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict urged the president to pursue a “regional and negotiated” solution to the violence engulfing the Middle East, a Vatican statement said, and voiced alarm about “the worrying situation in Iraq” and the plight of the besieged and dwindling community of Christians there.

Bush later said that he sought to reassure the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian faith, about the possibilities for peace. After his private 31-minute meeting with the pope, a man with whom he shares conservative religious beliefs, the president said, “I was in awe, and it was a moving experience.”

On a six-nation swing through Europe, Bush also held talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, whose center-left government has frequently clashed with Washington.

In fact, Italy is home to the most anti-U.S. sentiment of any of the countries Bush has chosen to visit following a summit in Germany of the Group of 8 leading industrialized nations.

Though he expected admonishment, Bush probably saw political value in appearing with the pope. Any photograph of the president and Benedict is a reminder of areas they do agree on, such as their opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, and thus might serve as a quiet papal blessing that reinforces Republican Party efforts to reach out to Catholic voters.

In foreign policy, however, their differences emerge. Benedict has been vocal in his opposition to bloodshed in the Middle East, singling out the Iraq war in this year’s Easter message: “Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees.”

By urging Bush to seek a negotiated solution, the pope may have been condemning, however gently, the military option pursued by this U.S. administration in Iraq, or the hands-off approach taken until recently in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Still, the president was spared the more public rebuke he experienced in 2004 when Pope John Paul II, after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bush, condemned the “deplorable” abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

True to his personality and style of governance, Benedict did not use Bush’s visit to make public remarks of substance and instead chose to deliver his message in private. Bush emerged from the Vatican’s regal Apostolic Palace seemingly more subdued.

Arriving, however, Bush was full of smiles and relaxed good cheer with only minimal observance of protocol.

Led by Swiss Guards in red-plumed hats and striped uniforms, Bush walked into the palace behind a contingent of papal footmen who moved at a slow, rhythmic click. They passed over marble floors and through velvet-paneled, frescoed rooms to reach the pope in his private library. First Lady Laura Bush, wearing a traditional black lace mantilla, or veil, followed several paces behind.

The two men shook hands. Bush eased into a seat at Benedict’s wooden desk, across from the pontiff, who sat more rigidly. Journalists are allowed to attend the first few minutes of the pope’s meetings with world dignitaries.

“Good to be with you, sir,” Bush said. (Italian journalists immediately noted the breach in protocol: The pope is formally to be addressed as “Your Holiness.”) The pope mentioned that Bush had just arrived from the G-8 summit.

“I did! Your old country!” Bush replied. “And it was successful,” he added.

“Successful?” the pope responded, a slight note of surprise in his voice. “You have some decisions? It’s not so easy.”

When the pope asked about Bush’s conversations with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, Bush eyed the reporters and said, “Umm, I’ll tell you in a minute.”

They then withdrew to a one-on-one discussion, emerging after about half an hour to pose for photographs with members of Bush’s entourage. Some kissed the pope’s ring. The two leaders also exchanged gifts; Bush’s presents included a walking stick engraved by a formerly homeless man with words and images of the Ten Commandments.

“The Ten Commandments?” Benedict asked.

Bush replied: “The Ten Commandments, yes, sir.”

Later Saturday, during a news conference with Prodi, Bush was asked whether he and the pope talked about the concept of a just war. The Vatican considered the war in Afghanistan to be justified but not the one in Iraq. Bush said the topic was not discussed but that the pope did express “deep concern” that the “society evolving in Iraq would not tolerate Christians.” Bush said he told the pontiff that Iraq’s constitution would protect minorities.

Christians in Iraq, like other communities, have been devastated by violence, kidnappings and killings; churches are emptying, either having been bombed or out of fear. Tens of thousands have fled the country. An Iraqi priest and three deacons of the Chaldean Catholic Church were killed last week.

Bush and Prodi, after a working lunch at the prime minister’s Palazzo Chigi, took pains to portray relations between Washington and Rome as friendly and free of serious bilateral disputes, pointing to several areas of cooperation, including Lebanon and Kosovo.

They carefully avoided mention of more contentious matters. Those include the trial-in-absentia that started Friday of 26 Americans, most from the CIA, who are accused of abducting a radical cleric in Italy in a so-called extraordinary rendition.

Security throughout Bush’s 34-hour stay in Rome was extensive. A reported 10,000 police, many in riot gear, were deployed Saturday in Rome, taking up position around the ancient Colosseum, in picturesque piazzas and through medieval neighborhoods. Police in patrol boats plied the Tiber River, which bisects the city, and a fleet of helicopters thumped overhead all day long.

Most of the show of force was in anticipation of violent reactions to Bush’s presence in Italy. Demonstrators from all over the country took trains and buses to Rome, many declaring they were protesting the Italian government’s military spending as much as what they see as Bush’s prowar policies.

Minor scuffles erupted near the Campo dei Fiori market square, but no serious injuries were reported.

“I am here to demonstrate against the war,” said Ugo Bertinelli, a 50-year-old factory worker from Parma in northern Italy who was pausing to picnic with fellow protesters.

“I think you have to go to places like Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., with hospitals and schools and not with missiles and tanks,” he said as he sliced salami.

Retired teacher Anna Beretta, 68, wrapped herself in a banner with a peace logo. “This war is represented by Bush, and that’s why we are here,” Beretta said. “We also have to show our government how disappointed we are in them.”

Prodi, elected last year over the pro-Washington Silvio Berlusconi, has withdrawn Italian troops from Iraq but kept a force in Afghanistan. He asked members of his Cabinet not to join the protest rallies, after one publicly referred to Bush as a warmonger.

wilkinson@latimes.com

james.gerstenzang@ latimes.com

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Wilkinson reported from Vatican City and Gerstenzang from Rome. Maria De Cristofaro of The Times’ Rome Bureau contributed to this report.