Pope calls for peace with 2-state solution
vatican city — Pope Francis used his Christmas message on Monday to call for a negotiated two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after US President Donald Trump stoked regional tensions with his recognition of occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Pop Francis spoke of the Middle East conflict and other world flashpoints in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address, four days after more than 120 countries backed a UN resolution urging the United States to reverse its decision on Jerusalem.
“Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders,” he said, referring to the Israelis and Palestinians.
It was the second time that the pope has spoken out publicly about Jerusalem since Trump’s decision on December 6. On that day, Francis called for the city’s “status quo” to be respected, lest new tensions in the Middle East further inflame world conflicts.
vatican city — Pope Francis on Monday called for peace in Jerusalem in his traditional Christmas address and highlighted the plight of children scarred by conflict, after urging the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore migrants.
Addressing tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Vatican to hear the pontiff ’s message, Francis called for “peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land.
“Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two states within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders.”
The pontiff’s plea came as fresh tensions simmered in the West Bank following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Following Trump’s lead, Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales said on Sunday his country would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem.
The pontiff also mentioned other global flashpoints such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and Venezuela, after stressing that the “winds of war are blowing in our world”.
“Let us pray that confrontation may be overcome on the Korean
Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached Pope Francis
peninsula and that mutual trust may increase in the interest of the world as a whole,” the 81-year-old said.
Earlier, celebrating midnight mass in the ancient town, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, used his address to lambast the wars that “the Herods of today fight every day to become greater, to occupy more space”.
Criticising Trump’s announcement, Pizzaballa insisted “Jerusalem is a city of peace, there is not peace if someone is excluded. Jerusalem should include, not exclude.”
Hundreds had gathered in the cold on Bethlehem’s Manger Square to watch the annual scout parade towards the Church of the Nativity.
But the square was noticeably quieter following the violence between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli army in the past weeks.