17th May, 2015
Pope Francis on Saturday praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting at the Vatican that underscored the Holy See’s warm relations with the Palestinians.
Francis, who said Abbas “is an angel of peace”, during the traditional exchange of gifts at the end of an official audience in the Apostolic Palace then presented the Palestinian President with a medallion.
He explained that “the medallion represents the angel of peace destroying the bad spirit of war.”
Francis said he thought the gift was appropriate “since you are an angel of peace.”
During his 2014 visit to Israel and the West Bank, Francis called both Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres as men of peace.
Abbas is in Rome for the canonisation of two 19th-century nuns from what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine scheduled for Sunday.
The new saints, Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, are the first from the region to be canonised since the early days of Christianity.
Abbas on Saturday offered Francis relics of the two new saints.
Church officials are holding up the new saints as a sign of hope and encouragement for Christians in the Middle East at a time when violent persecution from Islamic extremists had driven many Christians from the region of Christ’s birth.
Abbas’ visit also comes days after the Vatican finalised a bilateral treaty with the “state of Palestine” that made explicit its recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The Vatican said it had expressed “great satisfaction” over the new treaty during the talks with the Palestinian delegation. It said the pope, and later the Vatican secretary of state, also expressed hopes that direct peace talks with Israel would resume.
“To this end, the wish was reiterated that with the support of the international community, Israelis and Palestinians may take with determination courageous decisions to promote peace,” a Vatican statement said.
It added that interreligious dialogue was needed to combat terrorism.