VATICAN CITY: The Israeli and Palestinian presidents began an unprecedented meeting with Pope Francis on Sunday to pray together in the hope that the gesture will relaunch the Middle East peace process.
Francis, who made the surprise invitation to Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas last month during his trip to the Holy Land, welcomed the two leaders in front of the modest guest house where he has decided to reside after renouncing the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.
It was the first public meeting between the two presidents in more than a year and was taking place more than a month after United States-led peace talks collapsed amid bitter mutual recrimination. The three, accompanied by Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of the Orthodox Christians, were then driven together to what the Vatican has called a “neutral” site in the Vatican gardens with no religious symbols. They walked together, with the pope between Peres and Abbas, down a tree-lined lane to their seats on either side of the pope.
“We have gathered here, Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Christians and Muslims, so that each of us can express his or her desire for peace for the Holy Land and for all who dwell there,” the master of ceremonies said as the service began.
Religious representatives of the three religions— Judaism, Christianity and Islam— then began prayers for peace in Italian, Hebrew, Arabic and English.
The Vatican has played down any expectations that the meeting, billed as a “pause from politics”, will lead to any immediate breakthroughs in efforts to solve the region’s tortuous problems. (Agencies)
