Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican this week and invited him to visit Israel.
A Vatican source said the talks during the private meeting centered on the peace process in the Middle East and the status of Jerusalem.
Peres was in Rome for a two-day visit. He earlier told an Italian television station that the Vatican could play a “very important role” in the peace process.
Israel and the Vatican established full diplomatic ties this year.
Peres was also scheduled to meet with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
