The Pope: for Palestine 'two peoples, two states' but Israel still does not accept this solution

The journey of Leo XIV plunges into the serious issues of the Middle East, and goes to the heart of the problems: "The Holy See has already for several years publicly supported the two-state solution", Israel and Palestine "but we all know that right now Israel still does not accept this solution but we see it as the only solution to the conflict that they are continually experiencing". On the flight to the second leg of his first trip - after Turkey he lands in Lebanon - the Pope answered two questions from Turkish journalists and in particular to the question from Ntv correspondent Seyda Canepa, he spoke (in Italian) as he had perhaps never done before: "We are also friends of Israel and we try with the two sides to be a mediating voice that can help us get closer to a just solution for all". Asked if he had spoken about this with the President of Turkey: 'President Erdogan certainly agrees with this,' the Pope added, speaking of the two-state solution.

Turkey,' he added (he had already done so in his first speech in Ankara), 'played a role for Ukraine a few months ago with the possibility of dialogue between Ukraine and Russia. President Erdogan helped a lot to bring the two sides together. We still have not seen a solution unfortunately, but today there are concrete proposals for peace again'. He added: 'We hope that Erdogan, with his relations with the President of Russia, Ukraine and the United States, can help promote dialogue, a ceasefire and resolve this conflict, this war in Ukraine. And he reiterates: 'Turkey has an important role that it could play' both in supporting the two-state solution, between Israel and Palestine. and in the conflict in Ukraine, is Pope Leo's view.

After his arrival in Beirut, his first public meeting - after visiting the residence of President Aoun (Christian), where he met both the Prime Minister (Sunni) and the Speaker of Parliament (Shia) - he spoke to the authorities and the diplomatic corps: 'Around us, almost all over the world, a kind of pessimism and feeling of powerlessness seems to have won out: people no longer even seem to be able to ask themselves what they can do to change the course of history. The big decisions seem to be taken by the few and, often, at the expense of the common good, and this appears to many as an inescapable destiny. You have suffered a lot from the consequences of an economy that kills, from global instability that even in the Levant has devastating repercussions, from the radicalisation of identities and conflicts, but you have always been willing and able to start again'.

However, he goes on to say, 'truth and reconciliation always grow together: whether within a family, between the different communities and souls of a country, or between nations. At the same time, there is no lasting reconciliation without a common goal, without an openness to a future in which good prevails over evil suffered or inflicted in the past or present. A culture of reconciliation, therefore, does not only arise from below, from the willingness and courage of a few, but needs authorities and institutions that recognise the common good as superior to the partisan good. The common good is more than the sum of many interests: it brings everyone's goals as close as possible and moves them in a direction where everyone will have more than going it alone'. For the Pope, peace is in fact much more than a balance, always precarious, between those who live apart under the same roof. Peace is knowing how to live together, in communion, as reconciled people. A reconciliation that will not only make us live together, but also teach us to work together, side by side for a shared future'.