In an interview with Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana, Mr Peres said religion is a predominant justification used for wars today, whereas in the past nationhood was the main motivation.

So he proposed a "United Religions" type organisation, which Pope Francis could lead, as the best way to bring about peace.

In the interview, Mr Peres said Pope Francis would be ideal for this role because "perhaps for the first time in history, the Holy Father is a leader who's respected, not just by a lot of people, but also by different religions and their representatives".

The former president and joint Nobel Peace Prize recipient told Pope Francis of his idea at a meeting on September 4.

But Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, said the Pope did not commit himself to the proposal.

"The Pope listened" to the idea just as he always does with any peace initiative, "showing his interest, his attention and encouragement", Fr Lombardi said.

The Pope reminded Mr Peres that the Vatican has the Pontifical Councils for Interreligious Dialogue and for Justice and Peace - two offices "that are suitable" for supporting or following such initiatives, Fr Lombardi said.

Mr Peres told Famiglia Cristiana the United Nations and its peacekeepers "do not have the force or the effectiveness of any one of the Pope's homilies, which can draw half a million people just in St Peter's Square alone".

"So given that the United Nations has run its course, what we need is an organisation of United Religions," Mr Peres said.

This would be "the best way to counteract these terrorists who kill in the name of their faith".

"What we need is an unquestionable moral authority who says out loud, ‘No. God doesn't want this and doesn't allow it'," he added.

Prayer is also an important part of peacemaking, he said; people should not underestimate "the power of the human spirit".

After meeting Mr Peres, Pope Francis later met with Jordan's Prince El Hassan bin Talal, who, for the past four decades, has worked to promote interfaith understanding and dialogue around the world.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Catholic Herald

By that standard, Francis showed that Catholicism on his watch is alive and kicking by delivering one of the greatest surprises of his papacy — a peace summit that's likely to have no immediate impact whatsoever on the Middle East peace process, but that yet still managed to feel like a historic turning point.

In truth, going in to Sunday's prayer with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres, neither the pope nor his advisers were expecting a miracle.

"Anybody who has even a minimum understanding of the situation would never think that as of Monday, peace will break out," said Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a Franciscan priest based in the Middle East who organised the event.

The pope's lone ambition, he said, was to "open a path" that was previously closed.

Yet even if nothing results on the Israeli/Palestinian front, there are three reasons why tonight's "invocation for peace" was much more than a photo-op.

First, it represents a revitalization of the Vatican's diplomatic capacity after a period in which it hit a nadir. Continue reading.

John L. Allen Jr is associate editor at the Globe, specialising in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church. He also serves as senior Vatican analyst for CNN, and was for 16 years a correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

Source: Boston Globe

Image: Patheos

During his recent visit to the Holy Land, Pope Francis invited Israel's Shimon Peres and Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas to meet and pray together.

On June 8, the two presidents met Pope Francis separately at the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse where the pontiff lives.

The three were joined by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

They were driven to the Vatican gardens, where prayer was interspersed with music.

The gardens were seen as a neutral place, free of the Christian symbolism that could offend the other two faiths.

Prayer was offered in the historic order of the three faiths, with Judaism first, then Christianity and finally Islam.

The prayers praised God for creation, asked pardon for sin, and requested the gift of peace.

The Pope and the two presidents spoke briefly about the need for peace.

Francis said the event was a "great sign of brotherhood which you offer as children of Abraham".

But history reveals that peace cannot come merely through human strength, Francis noted.

He blamed the failure of peace talks to date on the devil, but called for courage in efforts to find peace.

Mr Peres said making peace was a "holy mission".

Mr Abbas spoke of a "comprehensive and just peace".

Both presidents spoke of the significance of Jerusalem for their faith traditions.

The three also planted an olive tree.

Vatican officials said the event was not a bid to push peace talks.

It is rather a "time out" from negotiations, with prayer potentially sparking a desire for peace.

Mr Abbas and Mr Peres know each other well, having signed Oslo peace accords in 1993.

Mr Peres is due to step down in a few weeks and is not involved in peace negotiations.

In April, US-backed peace talks broke down.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told paramilitary officers in Jerusalem that there had been prayers for peace for thousands of years.

But ultimately peace would come through armed strength by Israel, he reportedly said.

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• BBC
• LA Times
• Image: Euronews

Speaking in Bethlehem, the Pope offered President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas "my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer".

"Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a constant torment," the Pontiff said.

Representatives of Mr Peres and Mr Abbas were quick to accept the Pope's invitation.

According to Haaretz.com, a senior Israeli official said a Vatican envoy delivered the invitations to pray to Mr Abbas and Mr Peres several days before the Pope's visit.

In Bethlehem on May 25, Pope Francis made a stop next to the separation wall.

He placed his forehead on the concrete barrier that divides Israel and Palestinian territories and prayed in silence.

Pope Francis was clear in his demand that Palestine be recognised as a sovereign state.

But he held Palestinians to the same standard to recognise Israel.

After he arrived in Bethlehem, Pope Francis met with Mr Abbas and called for "the acknowledgment by all of the right of two states to exist and to live in peace and security within internationally recognised borders".

Ten thousand people were at a Mass celebrated by the Pope in Manger Square.

After Mass, Pope Francis had lunch with five Palestinian families and met with children at the Deheisheh Refugee Camp, where he urged them never to "abandon hope, and always look forward."

"You don't solve violence with violence," he told them.

Francis also labelled the current stalemate in peace efforts as "unacceptable".

The Pope went on to make a state visit to Tel Aviv, where he also issued an invitation to pray for peace.

Pope Francis then flew on to Jerusalem, where he joined Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I in prayer in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The meeting commemorated 50 years since Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras first met in 1964.

"Clearly we cannot deny the divisions which continue to exist among us, the disciples of Jesus," Pope Francis said.

"This sacred place makes us even more painfully aware of how tragic they are," he said.

On the first day of his three-day pilgrimage, the Pope visited Jordan.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• CNN
• Haaretz
• Fox News
• Image: BBC