Now he has come against Israel.
Does he not realize that Almighty God has both the right and the capacity to punish?
Now here’s news to me:
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), also Catholic, has invited the Pope to address Congress later this year, where the whole world will watch to see if he delivers a political message.
The Vatican has been using the phrase “State of Palestine” in its official diplomacy since November 2012, when the UN admit the Palestinians as a non-member observer state. The Vatican took the position that it would follow the lead of the UN as to when to start referring to it as a fact. That UN vote came during the papacy of Benedict XVI, so recognition of Palestine as a state is not new under Francis.
The “news” reported Wednesday, therefore, is two and a half years old.
Wednesday's announcement isn’t about the question of statehood. Instead, it largely concerned the tax and legal status of Catholic facilities and personnel on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, building on a basic accord reached between the Vatican and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 2000.
When Pope Benedict XVI traveled to the Middle East in 2009, he met with former PLO leader Yasser Arafat, who gave him a set of the Stations of the Cross made out of ivory. Benedict did him the diplomatic honor of installing this in a small chapel off of the Vatican “synod” assembly area.
Using the phrase “State of Palestinian” is, at most, a confirmation that the Vatican under Francis is not backing away from a position it had already taken.
Allen concludes his article by saying, "Perhaps the Vatican’s communication team might want to consider a boilerplate disclaimer in the future. 'Caution: Not everything contained in the following statement amounts to a revolution.'"
Now he has come against Israel.
Does he not realize that Almighty God has both the right and the capacity to punish?