Pope Francis to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas

President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet with Pope Francis on Saturday

Jan 10, 2017

VATICAN CITY: President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet with Pope Francis on Saturday.

According to an informative note from the Holy See Press Office, Abbas is expected to arrive in the morning in the Vatican. This is not the first meeting between Francis and the Palestinian president.

This meeting takes place in the wake of the canonization of two nuns born in the Holy Land, Saints Mother Marie Alphonsine and Mariam Baouardy, an event that the Palestinian president attended in the Vatican on May 17, 2015. They were Palestine’s first saints.

The visit also falls after an agreement went into force in May 2015 between the Holy See and State of Palestine. The agreement is seen as recognition of the State of Palestine.--Zenit