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Peres prays for peace alongside Abbas and Pope Francis at Vatican
Israel’s President Shimon Peres participated in an unprecedented prayer session for peace alongside Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Pope Francis at the Vatican yesterday.
The pontiff laid the groundwork for the event by issuing an apparent impromptu invitation to Peres and Abbas during his recent visit to Israel and the region. Yesterday, the three leaders embraced and planted an olive tree together in the Vatican garden, where the prayer session took place. Prayers from all three monotheistic religions were recited, focusing on peace-related themes. The Vatican stressed that the event was an entirely spiritual, not diplomatic occasion. Vatican official Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa commented, “Nobody is fooling themselves that peace will break out in the Holy Land.”
Taking the podium, President Peres said that, “Whoever loves life and desires to see good days, let him turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.” However he cautioned, “Peace does not come easy. It calls for sacrifice and compromise. Without peace, we are not complete. We have yet to achieve this mission of humanity.” He added hopefully, “if we pursue peace with determination, with faith, we will reach it.”
President Abbas also spoke, saying that, “With this prayer we are sending a message to all believers of the three major religions and the others: the dream of peace must not die.” Meanwhile, Pope Francis declared, “We have tried many times … to resolve our conflicts with our strength as well as our weapons,” but “our efforts have been in vain.” He said that the presence of Peres and Abbas was “a great symbol of brotherhood.”
Yesterday’s event comes as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is urging world leaders to shun the new Palestinian unity government. Sworn in last week by Abbas, it is backed by Hamas, which remains dedicated to Israel’s destruction. However, an aide to Peres emphasised to Haaretz that Israel’s government authorised Peres’s Vatican visit and that he and Netanyahu are in “constant contact.”