Pope John Paul II yesterday warned the US President, Mr George W. Bush, of the "evils" of euthanasia, stem-cell research and abortion during an audience at his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, near Rome.
The Pope's remarks to Mr Bush came on a day when the fallout of the weekend's violence-marred G8 summit in Genoa not only dominated Italian life but found its way into the Castelgandolfo audience.
Mr Bush, having a two-day stop in Rome in the wake of the summit, held 35 minutes of private talks with the Pope, during which they discussed not only the summit but the Middle East crisis and growing world poverty.
Afterwards, in an exchange of formal speeches, the Pope called on Mr Bush to guarantee "the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life itself".
He said: "Experience is already showing how a tragic coarsening of consciences accompanies the assault on innocent human life in the womb, leading to accommodation and acquiescences in the face of other related evils such as euthanasia, infanticide and, most recently, proposals for the creation of human embryos for research purposes."
The Pope's words on stem-cell research re embryos come at a time when the Bush administration is considering which kind of stem-cell research should receive federal funding. Speaking at a news conference afterwards, Mr Bush said he would take the Pope's "point of view into consideration" when he comes to "making up my mind on a very difficult issue".
In his much shorter speech, Mr Bush avoided controversy, focusing on tributes to the 81year-old Polish Pope. In an obvious reference to the Pope's role in the downfall of East Bloc communism, Mr Bush said: "You have shown the world, not only the splendor of truth, but the power of truth to overcome evil and redirect the course of history."
When the President first met the Pope at the door of the pontifical study, he appeared slightly nervous, saying: "How are you? Thank you so much for receiving me."
Later, before their private meeting, the Pope, speaking in English, told Mr Bush: "This is where the popes spend their summers." Mr Bush said: "Yes, Sir. I can understand why. It's so beautiful here."
The G8 summit was the dominant issue in Italy yesterday. The day saw further arrests in Genoa, letter-bomb attacks in Verona and Genoa and the centre-left opposition's call for the resignation of the Minister for the Interior, Mr Claudio Scajola.
Some 30 people, including Australians, Austrians, Canadians, Germans, Swiss, a Lithuanian and a Genoa citizen found with explosives, were arrested yesterday during mop-up operations after two days of rioting which cost the life of one demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani (23), and left Genoa with a £40 million bill for damages.
Tension remained high on the streets as a letter-bomb exploded in central Verona and another one was defused in Genoa. Political tension was also high, with the opposition calling for the resignation of Mr Scajola, adjudged to have mishandled summit policing.
Meanwhile, the Genoa Social Forum, an umbrella body protest group, has called a series of demonstrations in Italy today to protest at the allegedly heavy handed police behaviour.