Pope endorses Bush's goal for Iraq handover, assails abuses

By Edwin Chen
Los Angeles Times

OSSERVATORE ROMANO / AP Pope John Paul II and President Bush meet at the Vatican yesterday. The pontiff later accepted the Medal of Freedom.

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VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II, a stern critic of the Iraq war, endorsed President Bush's goal for "a speedy return of Iraq's sovereignty" yesterday and called on the United Nations to actively participate in that effort.

But even as Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award, the pope condemned as "deplorable" the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib near Baghdad.

Across the Tiber River, meanwhile, thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through the streets of Rome to protest Bush's presence and his foreign policy.

The president's meeting with the pope came on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Rome by allied troops. Bush travels today to Paris for a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, another foe of the Iraq war. Tomorrow, Bush and Chirac will join other world leaders at Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

In an interview with Paris Match magazine, Bush said he bore no ill will toward Chirac, whom he characterized as a friend.

But Bush's genuine feelings toward the French president remained open to question. Asked in the interview whether Chirac might soon receive a coveted invitation to Bush's Texas ranch, the president replied: "If he wants to come and see some cows, he's welcome to come out there and see some cows."

Bush told the magazine in the May 28 interview — a transcript of which was released by the White House yesterday — that his differences with Chirac were based on substantive disagreements, which now are history.

"I've never been angry at the French. France has been a longtime ally, and I — look, I made a difficult decision and not everybody agreed with it. But I understand that," Bush said. "And now is the time to work together to promote the values we believe in, which is human rights and human dignity and rule of law and freedom and justice."

Asked by the magazine "What went wrong?" with Franco-U.S. relations, Bush snapped: "You need to talk to the French leadership."

Also yesterday, Bush visited Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and laid a wreath at Fosse Ardeatine, a tomb honoring 335 Italians executed by Hitler's troops in retaliation for a deadly attack on German troops here. The president and first lady Laura Bush then dined with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his wife in Villa Madama, a government-owned Renaissance mansion atop a Rome hillside.

White House officials acknowledged that Bush had rearranged his European schedule in order to meet with the pope, who is about to depart for a two-day visit to Switzerland. But a senior administration official traveling with Bush denied the president was seeking to curry favors with Catholic voters back home.

Bush's presumed opponent in the presidential campaign is Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., expected to become the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee since John F. Kennedy in 1960. Kerry has been assailed by some top church officials because of his support for abortion rights and stem-cell research.

"Well, the Holy Father is not a political figure," the senior Bush administration official said. "And the president would never seek to make him into one." The official added that Bush finds especially appealing the pope's personal history of fighting tyranny in his native Poland.

"I think the president finds it an opportunity, first and foremost, to acknowledge the tremendous spiritual and moral leadership that the Holy Father provides for the world," the official said. "I think he finds it, personally, very affirming to be in the presence of somebody who's that kind of moral authority."

At the Vatican, Bush's private meeting with the pope lasted about 15 minutes. The media were allowed in briefly to hear their public remarks.

The pope, who is 84 and has Parkinson's disease, read from a prepared text, speaking in halting English. His hand shook noticeably and, in between words, he often inhaled deeply.

The pope paid tribute to the American soldiers who liberated Europe, but focused his remarks on "the grave unrest in the Middle East and in the Holy Land." He also welcomed the recent naming of an interim Iraqi government as "an encouraging step toward" sovereignty for that nation.

He delivered his remarks on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal immediately after mentioning the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. While the pope did not mention the name of the prison, there was little doubt about his reference.

"In the past few weeks, other deplorable events have come to light which have troubled the civic and religious conscience of all, and made more difficult a serene and resolute commitment to shared human values," the pope said.

"In the absence of such a commitment, neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome."

The pope also lauded the formation of an interim Iraqi government and urged more U.N. involvement as the administration negotiates a new Security Council resolution supporting the transition of power.

The pope spoke for more than 20 minutes. Bush spoke for only two, promising at one point to "work for human liberty and human dignity, in order to spread peace and compassion."

In Rome, 10,000 police officers patrolled the city center as thousands of demonstrators convened near the Forum.

During the morning, small groups of protesters set tires on fire in an attempt to block some roads. But the march was largely peaceful. Afterward, several of the major street arteries used by the demonstrators were strewn with trash while fresh anti-Bush graffiti and posters were everywhere.

Berlusconi pronounced the demonstration "a flop."

Information from the Washington Post on the pope's remarks is included in this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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