Pope Francis has said he ‘cannot silence’ his ‘deep concern’ ahead of an announcement by US President Donald Trump in which officials said he will recognise the disputed city as Israel’s capital.
Trump is due on Wednesday to set in motion the relocation of the US Embassy to the Jerusalem, senior US officials said, upending decades of US policy and risking further violence in the Middle East.
In an appeal at the end of his weekly general audience, Francis called for all to honour United Nations resolutions on the city, which is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
In an appeal at the end of his weekly general audience, Pope Francis called for all to honour United Nations resolutions on Jerusalem, which is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
President Donald Trump is due on Wednesday to set in motion the relocation of the US Embassy to the Jerusalem, senior US officials said, upending decades of US policy and risking further violence in the Middle East
‘I make a heartfelt appeal so that all commit themselves to respecting the status quo of the city, in conformity with the pertinent resolutions of the United Nations,’ he said.
The pope told thousands of people at his general audience: ‘I cannot keep quiet about my deep concern about the situation that has been created in the last few days.’
He said he hoped ‘wisdom and prudence prevail, in order to avoid adding new elements of tension to a global panorama that is already convulsed and marked by so many and cruel conflicts.’
The Argentine pontiff’s call came a day after he spoke by phone with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the Vatican said without elaborating.
Before making his public comments, Francis met privately with a group of Palestinians involved in inter-religious dialogue with the Vatican.
‘Jerusalem is a unique city, sacred for Jews, Christians and Muslims,’ he said, adding that it was home to sites deemed holy by followers of the three major monotheistic faiths.
Before making his public comments, Francis met privately with a group of Palestinians involved in inter-religious dialogue with the Vatican. He’s pictured above with Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs, during an audience with participants in the meeting of the Standing Committee for Dialogue with Religious personalities of Palestine
Jerusalem, the pope said, holds a ‘special vocation for peace’.
‘I pray to God that this identity is preserved and reinforced, for the sake of the Holy Land, the Middle East and the whole world, and that wisdom and prudence prevail,’ he said.
The pontiff added that maintaining the status quo was important ‘in order to avoid adding new elements of tension to an already volatile world that is wracked by so many cruel conflicts’.
Trump will instruct the State Department to begin the multi-year process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, US officials said Tuesday.
It remains unclear, however, when he might take that physical step, which is required by US law but has been waived on national security grounds for more than two decades.
The officials said numerous logistical and security details, as well as site determination and construction, will need to be finalized first.
Because of those issues, the embassy is not likely to move for at least three or four years, presuming there is no future change in US policy.
Jerusalem includes the holiest ground in Judaism. But it’s also home to Islam’s third-holiest shrine and major Christian sites, and forms the combustible center of the Israeli-Arab conflict
US officials, along with an outside adviser to the administration, said they expected a broad statement from Trump about Jerusalem’s status as the “capital of Israel’.
The president isn’t planning to use the phrase “undivided capital,” according to the officials.
Such terminology is favored by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and would imply Israel’s sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek for their own future capital.
Jerusalem includes the holiest ground in Judaism. But it’s also home to Islam’s third-holiest shrine and major Christian sites, and forms the combustible center of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Any perceived harm to Muslim claims to the city has triggered volatile protests in the past, both in the Holy Land and across the Muslim world.
Within the Trump administration, officials on Tuesday fielded a flood of warnings from allied governments.
The Jerusalem declaration notwithstanding, one official said Trump would insist that issues of sovereignty and borders must be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians.
The official said Trump would call for Jordan to maintain its role as the legal guardian of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy places, and reflect Israel and Palestinian wishes for a two-state peace solution.