Las Vegas Sun

April 23, 2024

Pope Francis, right, talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, during an official arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, May 25, 2014. Pope Francis took a dramatic plunge Sunday into Mideast politics while on his Holy Land pilgrimage, receiving an acceptance from the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to visit him at the Vatican next month to discuss embattled peace efforts. The summit was an important moral victory for the pope, who is named after the peace-loving Francis of Assisi. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in late April, and there have been no public high-level meetings for a year.

Oded Balilty / AP

Pope Francis, right, talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, during an official arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, May 25, 2014. Pope Francis took a dramatic plunge Sunday into Mideast politics while on his Holy Land pilgrimage, receiving an acceptance from the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to visit him at the Vatican next month to discuss embattled peace efforts. The summit was an important moral victory for the pope, who is named after the peace-loving Francis of Assisi. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in late April, and there have been no public high-level meetings for a year.