CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), whose public expressions of faith have raised eyebrows in Europe, on Saturday mourned the loss of American lives in Iraq (news - web sites), saying God's purposes were "not always clear."
Marking the religious holidays of Easter and Passover in his weekly radio address, Bush said the holy season had "special meaning" this year and welcomed the release of seven U.S. prisoners of war rescued north of Baghdad.
He pointed out that the parents of newly freed helicopter pilot Ronald Young of Georgia had thanked people "from across America and as far away as Australia and Japan for their cards and flowers and prayers." He said the United States "continues to pray for all who serve in our military and those who remain in harm's way."
Young and co-pilot David Williams were captured on March 23 when their Apache Longbow helicopter went down in Iraq. Rescued along with five others on Sunday, they were returning to Fort Hood in Texas this weekend.
Bush, who is taking an Easter holiday break at his ranch near Crawford, about 50 miles north of the Army base, will attend church services at Fort Hood on Sunday and could meet privately with the two men.
"This year, Easter and Passover have special meaning for the families of our men and women in uniform who feel so intensely the absence of their loved ones during these days," Bush said. "This holy season reminds us of the value of freedom, and the power of a love stronger than death."
Bush's evangelical Protestantism, which he embraced about 16 years ago when he gave up alcohol, has prompted questions abroad and in mainstream U.S. media about how much it colors his presidency, his stand on Iraq and the war on terror.
Aides say Bush reads the Bible every day, opens Cabinet meetings with a prayer and sometimes prays in the Oval Office. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he declared Jesus Christ the political philosopher or thinker he most admired "because he changed my heart."
TERMS OF GOOD AND EVIL
Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush has painted the world in stark terms of good and evil. He told reporters last month he sought guidance from God in making the decision to send U.S. troops into Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and rid the country of suspected weapons of mass destruction.
Commentators in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s firm but discreet Christian beliefs have also aroused attention, have described Bush as "chaplain in chief" and analyzed his use of religious phrases and images in detail.
German and French leaders have joined religious figures in voicing concern about religion's prominent political role in the United States, where conservative Christians are an important constituency of Bush's Republican Party.
"America mourns those who have been called home and we pray that their families will find God's comfort and God's grace," Bush said on Saturday. "His purposes are not always clear to us, yet this season brings a promise: that good can come out of evil, that hope can arise from despair ..."
Bush, who speaks of the power of prayer and has hinted at God's "divine plan," recalled the battlefield loss of Cpl. Henry Brown, a 22-year-old soldier from Mississippi, and the words of the soldier's best friend Frank Woods.
"He believed God was working through him and he was part of the plan. I guess part of the plan now is God calling his soldier home," Bush quoted Woods as saying.