It seems the true God was not impressed by the atheistic Vatican prayer meeting for peace in the Middle East. The area exploded in war right after it.
On July 8th, Israel began a 50-day campaign against Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Israeli deaths totalled 6 civilians and 67 soldiers.[14]
And at the same time as the prayer meeting, Islamic militants began a bloody rampage across Iraq, leading three weeks later to the proclamation of a “caliphate” and a call-to-arms of Muslims across the world.[15]
But Fr. Lombardi was very pleased with the success of the prayer meeting. He remarked after the September 4th audience, “The prayer for peace initiative which took place here” with Peres and Abbas, “is in no wise to be considered a failure – subsequent developments notwithstanding – but rather as the opening of a door…”.[16]