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POPE-PERES Apr-6-2006 (460 words) With photo. xxxi
Israel's Peres says pope would like to visit Holy Land in 2007
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Pope Benedict XVI told him he would like to visit the Holy Land in the first half of 2007.
Peres, who held a press conference in Rome April 6 after his 40-minute meeting with the pope, said he renewed the Israeli government's standing invitation for a papal visit and expressed his hope that it would take place "as soon as possible."
"The pope has indicated that he may do it in the first part of next year," Peres said.
In an official statement published after the meeting, the Vatican acknowledged the invitation, but gave no indication that the pope accepted it or had discussed the timing of the visit.
Peres told reporters, "I do believe his visit could have a positive impact on the peace process."
Asked whether Pope Benedict might postpone the trip while the radical Hamas organization leads the Palestinian government, Peres said that he doubted that Hamas would be in power next year.
While Hamas easily won the Palestinian elections in January, he said, "They cannot govern." Hamas is not a political party, but a group of people operating out of a specific interpretation of Islam, he said.
A religious organization cannot govern because "politics is based on compromise, but religion is uncompromising," Peres said.
The former prime minister said in his meeting with the pope and later with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, they discussed the still-uncompleted Vatican-Israeli agreements regarding the taxation of Catholic property in Israel and other legal issues.
While Peres assured the pope and Cardinal Sodano that Israel would "raise the level of negotiations" and finalize an agreement soon, he did not think it would delay a papal trip.
"The late pope did not wait until all the problems were solved" before he visited in 2000, Peres said.
The Vatican's April 6 statement said the pope and Peres also discussed a range of issues relating to peace in the Middle East and both condemned "every form of terrorism under any pretext used to justify it."
Peres said, "I found the pope very knowledgeable, very informed and very interested."
The former prime minister said the pope told him negotiations regarding territory and governance in the Holy Land must ensure the faithful have access to their religion's holy sites and that freedom of religion for all people must be guaranteed.
Discussing what the Vatican termed "relations between Israeli authorities and the Christian communities existing in the country," Peres said he told the pope Israel was committed not only to guaranteeing access, but also to offering financial assistance "so pilgrims can come to a place that is welcoming and attractive."
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Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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