ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - President George W. Bush said Thursday the funeral service for the late Pope John Paul II helped reaffirm his personal faith, and lauded the pontiff's "strong" legacy.
"I knew the ceremony today would be majestic but I didn't realize how moved I would be by the service itself, by the beautiful music," Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Washington from Rome.
Of the service Bush stressed that "it helped strengthen my faith. ... Faith: it's a walk, not a moment, not a respite ... Today's ceremony, I bet you, was a reaffirmation for millions."
"I think the thing that struck all our delegations most intensely was the final scene of the plain-looking casket ... being carried and held up for the seal to be seen and then the sun pouring down," Bush added.
"This will be one of the highlights of my presidency, to have been at this great ceremony."
Asked about his relationship with the pontiff, sometimes officially at odds on issues such as the Iraq war, Bush said "My relationship with pope John Paul II was a very good relationship.
"He was such a gentle man and at the end of his life he made his points to me with his eyes. At the last visit (to Vatican June last year) he was pretty physically struggling, and yet his eyes twinkled just real clear. Much of the communication was done by paperwork."
On the successor to be selected to lead the world's more than one billion Roman Catholics, Bush said "I am interested in working with whoever his successor is. I am not going to prejudge the selection process."
Asked about the pope's legacy Bush said "I think pope John Paul II will have a clear legacy of peace compassion and a strong legacy of setting a clear moral tone."
"It was a strong legacy. I wanted to make sure there was a proper adjective to the legacy not just clear."
Bush also said the experience reinforced his belief that "There is a living God. And no doubt in my mind the Lord Christ was sent by the Almighty. No doubt."
Though surrounded by a crowd after arriving in Rome to pay his respects, Bush said "when I was kneeling there .. much more in touch with his spirit, I really did. I felt very much at peace there, and I felt prayerful."
04/08/2005 14:13 GMT