Pope Leo XIV reiterated by phone to the President of the State of Palestine what he had already stated during the Angelus: that the holy places, the civilian population and humanitarian aid should be protected.
POPE LEO XIV
Humanitarian law must be upheld, and the obligation to protect civilians must be respected, along with the prohibition of collective punishment, indiscriminate use of force, and forced displacement of the population.
The conversation between the two took place on July 21, the day on which Pope Leo XIV combined high level diplomatic work with simple pastoral visits, such as the one he made to this asylum.
Pope Leo XIV also took advantage of the telephone call with Mahmoud Abbas to recall an important fact in the relationship between the two States: that 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of the last agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.
It was an agreement aimed at guaranteeing the protection of the rights of Christians in the region by the local authorities. However, Israel saw it as an explicit recognition of the State of Palestine.
The Vatican, for its part, had already praised the 2012 UN resolution that recognized Palestine as a non-member observer State. Then, in 2014, during Pope Francis's visit to the Holy Land, Mahmoud Abbas was also treated as President of the State of Palestine. Moreover, years later, an embassy to the Holy See was even opened. The Vatican has supported the two-state solution for decades.
ABP. PAUL RICHARD GALLAGHER
Vatican Secretary for Relations with States
And I think many people, although recognizing that it is a very, very difficult call, realize that it's probably the only option on the table at the moment. And, as we know, if there is the political will to bring this about, it can happen. Now, that's a big, big call and we know that. But this situation is so grave, what we have already witnessed is so terrible that we need to do something like this.
Two states or not, the truth is that peace seems increasingly out of reach.
JRB
Trans. PS
