Vatican Prayer Summit (political and religious leaders: Perez, Abbas, Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew)

Posted at NY TIMES dot-com (June 8, 2014): story co-written by reporters Jim Yardley and Jodi Rudoren = In a richly symbolic ceremony, Pope Francis oversaw a carefully orchestrated “prayer summit” with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents on Sunday as Jews, Christians and Muslims offered invocations for peace in the Vatican gardens. “It is my hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a new journey where we seek the things that unite, so as to overcome the things that divide,” Francis said at the ceremony. During his trip last month to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Francis unexpectedly extended invitations for a summit at the Vatican to President Shimon Peres of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority. He said the meeting would be about prayer, not politics, and Vatican officials have sought to dispel any expectations that a breakthrough might emerge. Many Mideast analysts, while applauding the gesture, have been skeptical that the meeting would help revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but it at least did bring together the two presidents, who held a private meeting after the ceremony with Francis. During the ceremony, Mr. Peres and Mr. Abbas avoided the familiar political tropes. There was no mention of 1967 borders or security arrangements. Mr. Abbas did not use the word “occupation,” according to an English translation of his prepared text distributed by the Vatican. (Nor did he say the word “Israel,” though he did refer once to Israelis.) Yet there were some subtle provocations. Mr. Abbas called Jerusalem, considered by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital, “our Holy City” and also referred to “the Holy Land Palestine.” (Mr. Peres described Jerusalem both as “the vibrant heart of the Jewish people” and as “the cradle of the three monotheistic religions.”) Mr. Abbas also prayed for a “sovereign and independent state” and said Palestinians were “craving for a just peace, dignified living, and liberty,” implying that they are denied these things under Israel’s occupation. Mr. Peres did not mention rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, but he evoked the attacks with the biblical quotation “Nation will not take up sword against nation, not will they train for war anymore.” [ISAIAH 2:4] The ceremony was held in a garden behind St. Peter’s Basilica that is enclosed by a high hedge to provide a sense of intimacy (as well as a spectacular view of the cupola of the basilica). It also was chosen as a place that seemed somewhat neutral in terms of religious iconography. The service was carefully organized into three successive “moments,” in which prayers and readings were offered by Jews, then Christians and then Muslims. Then the three leaders spoke. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/world/europe/pope-francis-holds-vatican-prayer-summit-with-israeli-and-palestinian-leaders.html?hp&_r=0