Italian anti-war demonstrators gathered in Rome during a George Bush visit. Photo by AFP
US President Bush is meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, as protesters gather in Rome to demonstrate against US actions in Iraq. The leader of the world's Catholics has spoken out against the Iraq war and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some US troops. President Bush is on the first day of a European trip marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Rome and the D-Day invasion in Normandy during World War II. He met with Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi before going to the Vatican.