Vatican’s Secretary of State renews plea for dialogue in Holy Land
December 23, 2017
In an interview with an Italian newspaper, the Vatican’s Secretary of State called for “direct dialogue” between Israelis and Palestinians.
“The only solution is direct dialogue between the two parties in order to be able to arrive at a consensus about some proposals,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Corriere della Sera. “In my opinion, unilateral decisions are not useful for going in the direction of peace.”
The prelate restated the Holy See’s long-held position on the status of Jerusalem: that it have an internationally-guaranteed special status as an open city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, with religious freedom for all and access to pilgrimage sites.
The Church, he continued, is called “to continue to proclaim the great values of the Gospel: peace, dialogue as a path to arrive at peace, fraternity, solidarity. Here, these words must continue to be repeated because they risk being denied every day by the facts.”
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