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Israeli President Moshe Katsav has accepted an invitation from Pope Benedict XVI to make the first official visit to the Vatican by an Israeli head of state, officials said Sunday.Katsav will visit Italy for about a week in mid-November, said Katsav's spokeswoman, Hagit Cohen. The Foreign Ministry said the visit was "unprecedented."Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in the 1990s, and Pope John Paul II hosted Israeli prime ministers and other officials as part of his effort to build ties with the Jewish state.The presidency in Israel is a largely ceremonial office, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said...

Bush Brought a Gift for the Pope: The Alliance Between Catholics and Evangelicals It is an absolute novelty in the history of the United States, and has been consolidated with the present administration. The key role of Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus in the inner circle of the White House by Sandro Magister ROMA – The June 4 meeting in the Vatican between George W. Bush and John Paul II brought together noticeably the positions of the two sides: even in the matter of Iraq, over which there was a serious division a year ago. The speech given by the pope...

Bush's Vatican strategy By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist  |  June 15, 2004 BUMPER stickers saying ``Bishops for Bush'' may soon be coming. It seems that the president who admits few faults and confesses no shame but invokes God in policy decisions to a grating degree for many Americans pandered to the pope in his recent trip to the Vatican. The National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper, published an article that said Bush asked Vatican officials to help him in the American culture wars. The article, written by Rome correspondent John Allen, said ``During his June 4 visit, Bush asked...

<p>President Bush had a successful trip to Italy earlier this month, but no one in America would know it based on the news coverage. Headlines all focused on the same two themes: Pope John Paul II scolded the president about prison abuse in Iraq, and Italian mobs thronged the streets to protest Mr. Bush. Neither story accurately portrays what were positive meetings at the Vatican and with Italian government officials.</p>

During his June 4 visit, Bush asked the Vatican to push the American Catholic bishops to be more aggressive politically on family and life issues, especially a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. A Vatican official told NCR June 9 that in his meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano and other Vatican officials, Bush said, “Not all the American bishops are with me” on the cultural issues. The implication was that he hoped the Vatican would nudge them toward more explicit activism.Other sources in the meeting said that while they could not...

George Bush met June 4 in the Vatican with John Paul II, and rarely has a high-profile encounter between two leaders been subject to more widely varying interpretations. According to White House sources and Vatican spokesperson Joaquín Navarro-Valls, it was a cordial encounter that produced a meeting of the minds on Iraq, as well as appreciation for Bush’s stands on life and the family. According to some media outlets, on the other hand, it was a dramatic confrontation; the Manchester Guardian, for example, called it a “papal tongue-lashing.” The truth, as usual, probably lies somewhere in between. John Paul’s speech...

In his recent trip to Rome, President Bush asked a top Vatican official to push American bishops to speak out more about political issues, including same-sex marriage, according to a report in the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper. In a column posted Friday evening on the paper's Web site, John L. Allen Jr., its correspondent in Rome and the dean of Vatican journalists, wrote that Mr. Bush had made the request in a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state. Citing an unnamed Vatican official, Mr. Allen wrote: "Bush said, 'Not all the American...

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK On his recent trip to Rome, President Bush asked a top Vatican official to push American bishops to speak out more about political issues, including same-sex marriage, according to a report in the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper. In a column posted Friday evening on the paper's Web site, John L. Allen Jr., its correspondent in Rome and the dean of Vatican journalists, wrote that Mr. Bush had made the request in a June 4 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state. Citing an unnamed Vatican official, Mr. Allen wrote: "Bush said,...

Despite all the headlines claiming the Pope "upbraided" and "scolded" President Bush in the June 4 audience (and advance reports that Cdl. Pio Laghi predicted severe words), here is what the Pope REALLY said - from Vatican web site - UDIENZA AL PRESIDENTE DEGLI STATI UNITI DíAMERICA, S.E. IL SIGNOR GEORGE WALKER BUSH , 04.06.2004 and conferral of the "PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM" At 12 noon today, the Holy Father John Paul II received in Audience Mr. George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, with his wife and staff. * DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADRE Mr. President, 1....

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 4, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II appealed to U.S. President George Bush for the return of Iraq to full sovereignty as soon as possible, with the participation of the international community, in particular the United Nations. During an audience in the Vatican today, the Pope also called for "new negotiations" for peace in the Holy Land, programs to put an end to the "intolerable conditions" of Africa, and greater cooperation for peace between the United States and Europe. The Holy Father expressed his appreciation of the Bush administration's commitment to the promotion "of moral values in American...

It is too much of a simplification to say Europe and America look at the problem of the resurgent Islamic Jihad in different ways. (Canada being more like Europe than America.) There are two radically different approaches — surrender, or fight — but both may be found on either side of the Atlantic. As President Bush again tours Europe — celebrating the 60th anniversary of the capture of Rome yesterday, and of the Normandy landings tomorrow — we are again reminded how much has changed. In Rome, Mr. Bush had an audience with Pope John Paul II. In exchange for...

NewsMax.com WiresFriday, June 4, 2004 Here is the text of President Bush presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The text was provided by the White House. President Bush: Your Holiness, thank you very much for receiving Laura and me, and our delegation. I bring greetings from our country, where you are respected, admired and greatly loved.I also bring a message from my government that says to you, sir, we will work for human liberty and human dignity, in order to spread peace and compassion; that we appreciate the strong symbol of freedom...

Masked demonstrators hurl objects during clashes with Italian Police at Circo Massimo grounds at a protest against the visit by President Bush in Rome, Friday June 4, 2004. Bush, who met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican Friday, is in Italy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Rome's liberation and will proceed to France Saturday.(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito) A U.S. flag with a swastika is seen during a protest against a visit by President Bush (news - web sites) in Rome, Friday June 4, 2004. Bush, who met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican Friday, is in...

Today President Bush met with Pope John Paul II during their 15 minute closed door meeting and later a photo op at the Vatican today. He presented the Pope with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Later he met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and laid a wreath at the mausoleum, at Rome's Fosse Ardeatine where 335 Italians were slaughtered by occupying Nazis on March 24, 1944. President Bush also met with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Quirinale Palace in Rome Italy ENJOY YOUR VIST TO SANITY ISLAND

Bush's nuclear "football" enters Vatican Fri 4 June, 2004 15:01 By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - While George W. Bush and the pope talked peace in the Vatican, a military aide held a bulky black attaché case containing the codes the U.S. president would need in order to launch a nuclear war. It is known as "the football". It has been all over the world and on Friday it entered the hallowed halls of the Vatican. It was never very far from the president. While he and the pope were speaking alone in the pontiff's private study, it was...

ROME (AP) - President Bush got a sharp dose of Europe's opposition to his Iraq policy Friday, quietly in the halls of the Vatican from Pope John Paul II and loudly in the streets of Rome from thousands of demonstrators. The ailing pontiff complained about recent "deplorable events," an apparent reference to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. In the absence of a commitment to shared human values, "neither war nor terrorism will ever be overcome," he said, struggling to speak. However, the pope welcomed the recent establishment of an interim government and called for a speedy transfer...

Pope John Paul II admonished President Bush for the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US troops during a meeting in Vatican City today. The full text of the speech, and Mr Bush's response, is below.Mr President: "I offer a warm welcome to you and to Mrs Bush, and to the distinguished Delegation accompanying you. I also extend a cordial and affectionate greeting to all the people of the United States whom you represent. I thank you for wishing to meet with me again, in spite of the difficulties presented by your own many commitments during this present visit to Europe...

Amid tight security measures, thousands of demonstrators marched through Rome on Friday to protest the visit of President Bush to Italy and that country's participation in the war in Iraq. Protesters swarmed the streets of central Rome after Bush met with Pope John Paul II, one of the strongest critics of the war. Police estimated the number of demonstrators at 500,000.

June 4, 2004 -- PRESIDENT Bush meets today with Pope John Paul II in Rome. We can only imagine what they'll discuss — though one Vatican official thinks he knows. In a recent interview with an Italian paper, the voluble Cardinal Pio Laghi said he was sure that the pope would tell Bush what Laghi himself had said to the president last year: Stop the action in Iraq. Laghi referred to "the advice I gave him, which he decided not to heed. Now we see how wise it was." To help keep civilization from losing the War on Terror, I'd...

DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADREMr. President,1. I offer a warm welcome to you and to Mrs. Bush, and to the distinguished Delegation accompanying you. I also extend a cordial and affectionate greeting to all the people of the United States whom you represent. I thank you for wishing to meet with me again, in spite of the difficulties presented by your own many commitments during this present visit to Europe and Italy, and by my own departure tomorrow morning for a meeting with young people in Switzerland.2. You are visiting Italy to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of...

ROME - President Bush (news - web sites) presented America's highest civilian award on Friday to Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II, who has expressed fervent opposition to the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and called for a speedy return of the country's sovereignty. The president nodded and smiled as he greeted the 84-year-old pontiff, leaning down to hold his trembling hands. Later, Bush was to meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch supporter and U.S. ally in the war. Calling the pontiff "a devoted servant of God," Bush presented him with the Presidential...

<p>Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday voiced his support for President Bush's leadership in Iraq and the war on terror and told fellow allies that this is the "worst time imaginable" to waver in their support of U.S. foreign policy.</p>

ROME — President Bush and Pope John Paul II (search ) met briefly for talks in Vatican City Friday at the start of the president's 36-hour tour of Italy. The president nodded and smiled as he greeted the 84-year-old pontiff, leaning down to hold his trembling hands. The closed-door talks between the president and the Pope, who has expressed fervent opposition to the war in Iraq, were to focus on Iraq and the conflict in the

ROME (AP) - President Bush, facing tough talks with U.S. allies, said Thursday it would be disastrous if they took their troops out of Iraq. Pulling out, Bush said, would send the wrong signals to the Iraqi people and to terrorists. "It would dispirit those who love freedom in Iraq," he said. Bush, standing alongside Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a strong ally on Iraq, made his comments at the White House before leaving Washington on the first leg of a three-day European trip. Howard renewed his intention to keep Australia's 850 troops in Iraq, despite political criticism in his...

President Bush will award Pope John Paul the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday, the highest U.S. civilian award, a U.S. official said Thursday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pontiff was being honored for "years of fighting for freedom and for his important moral voice." Bush is to meet the Polish pope at the Vatican Friday. The pope strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and last week publicly condemned torture as an affront to human dignity, seen as a veiled reference to American abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. In November the U.S....

BUSH IN ROME: BERLUSCONI'S DECLARATION (AGI) - Rome, Italy, June 3 - Here is the entire text of the prime minister's speech: "A people which forgets its past cannot build a bright future. That's why it is right for us Italians to recall the 4th June 1944, when, sixty years ago, the allies freed Rome, our capital, from the Nazis, two days before the US troops landed in Normandy, to liberate Europe. Those were the last days of our winter. The US president is now on visit in Europe to commemorate those painful but glorious days. He will come to...

(AGI) - Rome, Italy, June 3 - Here is the entire text of the prime minister's speech: "A people which forgets its past cannot build a bright future. That's why it is right for us Italians to recall the 4th June 1944, when, sixty years ago, the allies freed Rome, our capital, from the Nazis, two days before the US troops landed in Normandy, to liberate Europe. Those were the last days of our winter. The US president is now on visit in Europe to commemorate those painful but glorious days. He will come to Rome, then to Paris and...

President Bush will award Pope John Paul the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday, the highest U.S. civilian award, a U.S. official said Thursday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the pontiff was being honored for "years of fighting for freedom and for his important moral voice."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A trip to Europe to commemorate D-Day this week will give President Bush (news - web sites) a chance to shore up his battered standing in the world, but he also faces political risk if he fails to enlist more help in stabilizing Iraq (news - web sites). Bush sets off on Thursday for Italy and France where he will dine with foreign leaders, confer with Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II -- one of his harshest critic of the war in Iraq -- and deliver a speech on the coast of Normandy where Allied...

In June 1983, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, then prime minister of Poland, received Pope John Paul II at the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw. It was the pope's second trip to his home country, but the first since the general had imposed martial law 18 months earlier, and in a speech before their meeting the general defended his decision. Despite the defiant tone of the speech, many reporters noticed, General Jaruzelski's knees were shaking. Tomorrow President Bush will call upon Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. After their meeting they will appear before reporters, but the most interesting question may be...

Al-Qaeda message takes a stab at Berlusconi May 31 2004 at 03:57PM Rome - Stinging comments directed at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and attributed to al-Qaeda were widely reported in the Italian press on Monday, just days ahead of a visit to Rome by United States President George Bush. The message, posted on an Internet site and attributed to Abdel Aziz al-Muqrin, the head of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, claims responsibility for the bloody weekend siege at a housing complex in the eastern Saudi oil city of Al-Khobar, in which 19 foreigners and three Saudis were killed. It says:...

There are "serious threats" hanging over President Bush's planned visit to Rome next week, according to the Italian government. Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said authorities were bracing for possible disturbances. "Serious threats, which worry us but do not frighten us, are emerging for June 2 (Italy's national day) and Bush's visit," Mr Pisanu said. He was apparently referring to the risk of violence during demonstrations that are planned when President Bush visits Rome next Friday and Saturday. Mr Bush is travelling to Italy ahead of an appearance in Normandy for celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings...

Ahead of U.S. President George Bush’s June 4 visit to John Paul II, a senior Bush aide was in Rome this week for meetings with Vatican and Italian officials. John Bolton, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, met the Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, on May 17. Bolton’s official agenda was to brief the Holy See on the upcoming June 8-10 G-8 summit, and especially efforts to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction. As a senior State Department figure, however, his conversations with Vatican officials are wide-ranging. Just five days ago, Lajolo denounced...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II will meet with President George W. Bush in early June, and the top item on the agenda will be Iraq, sources in Rome said. The meeting June 4 was arranged after days of quiet talks involving Vatican officials and U.S. diplomats. The White House and the Vatican were expected to officially announce the encounter in mid-May. U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson told Catholic News Service May 9 that Bush had altered his schedule in order to make sure he didn't miss the pope, who is scheduled to travel to Switzerland...