VATICAN CITY (MCT) — In weeklong travels through Europe, President Bush has promoted his vision of "a freedom agenda" and thanked allies for support with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but here at The Holy See, in his first audience with Pope Benedict XVI, the president was reminded that not all is well in the world.

The Vatican, describing the private meeting of the pope and president on Saturday as "cordial," said later that they had addressed "the international political situation" — including "the worrying situation in Iraq."

On the streets of Rome, battalions of carabinieri, some in riot gear, contained several thousand protesters, with the main boulevard leading to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican cordoned off.

Inside the Vatican, the spectacularly uniformed Swiss Guard greeted Bush's arrival for his session with the pope. Benedict has spoken out against the war in Iraq, saying during his Easter message in St. Peter's Square that "nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees."

"We didn't talk about 'just' war," Bush said at a brief news conference in Rome later, professing himself to be "in awe" of the new pope after their 30-minute meeting. "He did express big concern about the Christians inside Iraq, that he was concerned that the society that is evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion.... He is deeply concerned about that, and we spent a long time talking about it."

The Vatican's official statement on the meeting focused on "the international political situation." This includes the situations in Darfur and the Middle East: "Particular attention was given to the Israeli-Palestinian question, to Lebanon, to the worrying situation in Iraq and to the critical conditions being experienced by the Christian communities."

They discussed moral and religious issues, according to the Vatican, including human rights and religious freedom, "the defense and promotion of life, marriage and the family" and education.

The pope also asked Bush about his meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposes the Bush administration's plan to deploy several defensive missiles in Poland but has offered a Soviet-era radar installation in Azerbaijan as the eyes of a joint U.S.-Russian-run defensive network.

"Your dialogue with Putin was also good?" the pope was overheard asking the president during a brief moment in which reporters and photographers were allowed inside the pope's private library.

"I'll tell you in a minute," Bush replied, eyeing the media.

For the president, who has courted religious voters back home and fared well among Catholics — outrunning an opponent who is Catholic, Sen. John Kerry, in 2004 — this was his first meeting with Benedict XVI but his fourth with a pope. Bush last met with Pope John Paul II in 2004, during the re-election campaign.