Violent Protests as Bush Meets with the Pope

Italian riot police
used tear gas on Saturday against anti-Bush demonstrators who donned
face masks in defiance of a police order and threw bottles and other
objects, disrupting an anti-globalization demonstration that was
reaching its conclusion in the capital’s ancient center.

The violence broke out after President Bush had concluded his
official business for the day during a visit to Italy and had returned
to the residence of the U.S. ambassador, several miles away.

George W. Bush said on Saturday he felt "awe" in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, who urged the U.S. president to seek "regional and negotiated" solution to Middle East conflicts like Iraq.

"I was talking to a very smart, loving man," Bush said of his first talks with Benedict since he became pope in 2005.

"After 6½ years of being a president ... I've been to some unusual places and met some interesting people and I was in awe," Bush told a joint news conference in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. "It was a moving experience for me."

The pope expressed to Bush a "deep concern" about Christians living in Muslim-majority Iraq.

"He was concerned that the society that was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion, and I assured him we were working hard to make sure that people lived up to the constitution -- that modern constitution voted on by the people from different walks of life and different attitudes," Bush said.

Bush said they also discussed world hunger, HIV/AIDS, malaria and immigration reform in the United States. Benedict was watching the U.S. immigration debate intently, Bush said.

A Vatican statement said Benedict and Bush had discussed the Middle East and the Holy See's "hope for a regional and negotiated solution to the conflicts that afflict that region."

"It's good to be with you sir," Bush said as he sat before the pontiff's private desk in the Vatican.