CWN - During a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on September 14 in Beirut, Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham said that “recognition of a Palestinian state is the most previous good that the Arab world can obtain in all its confessions, Christian and Muslim.”
In an advance copy of his remarks at the meeting, the Melkite Patriarch suggested that the Vatican should grant diplomatic recognition to the Palestinian state. That text was withdrawn, reportedly because Church officials thought it would put undue pressure on the Pontiff during his visit in the Middle East.
Recognition for Palestine, the Melkite leader said, would “prepare the way for a true Arab Spring” and create the conditions of peace in the Holy Land.
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