Vatican confirms that Pope Francis, who has continued to be critical of Israel's military actions in Gaza, will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas
Pope Francis is scheduled to meet Abbas on Thursday, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a Vatican announcement The Vatican confirmed the meeting with Abbas in a brief statement on Tuesday but did not provide additional details about the agenda
Pope Francis and Abbas have met on several occasions and last spoke in November 2023
The meeting between the Pope and Abbas comes as the pope continues to express increasingly pointed criticism of Israel's military actions in Gaza
Abbas will be in Italy this week and is also expected to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
The Vatican recognized “Palestine” as a state in 2013 Four years later, in 2017 the Palestinian Authority (PA) opened an “embassy” in the Vatican
During a 2015 meeting with Abbas, the pope referred to Abbas as "an angel of peace" causing outrage on social media
The Vatican later explained that the reference was mistranslated and in fact was meant as encouragement for Abbas to pursue peace with Israel
