Pope Benedict XVI
Photo: AFP
Pope prays for Annapolis summit
Benedict XVI asks faithful to join in prayer for 'peace in a region so dear to us'
Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged the faithful to pray that the participants at this week's Mideast summit find the "wisdom and courage" necessary to bring peace to the Holy Land.
Islamic Republic
'Organizers of Annapolis conference are Americans and past experience tells us that they cannot be objective and credible mediators and they are providing all out support for the Zionist regime,' says Islamic Republic
During his traditional Sunday blessing, Benedict noted that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops had called for a day of prayer before the US-sponsored summit to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that opens Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.
He asked the faithful to join in the prayer for "peace in a region so dear to us and for the gifts of wisdom and courage for all the protagonists of this important meeting."
He said the meeting hoped to relaunch negotiations "to find a just and definitive solution to the conflict which for 60 years has bloodied the Holy Land and provoked so many tears and suffering among two peoples."
The United States is hoping that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will declare a formal resumption of peace talks, in the presence of a large international audience, at the two-day summit. Talks broke down amid violence seven years ago.
