Pope's meeting with Peres, Abbas 'big part of peace process'

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 9 - Pope Francis' prayer meeting at the Vatican with the presidents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority may not lead to immediate peace, but the unprecedented event "made a strong contribution" to the process, the Vatican said Monday. On Sunday, the pope welcomed Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican gardens for prayer after making a surprise invitation during his visit to the Holy Land last month.
    Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio on Monday the encounter was "a strong, new contribution" to the peace process, symbolized in an embrace shared by Abbas and Peres. "It was a moment of liberation, of people who sincerely desire peace but have trouble finding the way," said Lombardi, calling the entire meeting "an act of courage against timid realism". http://popefrancisnewsapp.com/