A report that Pope John XXIII would favor a move for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel was circulated here today by the Italian Diplomatic Agency.
According to the Agency, which is not an official governmental body, the subject of Vatican-Israeli relations is now being studied by the Pope’s Secretariat of State, as well as by the Cardinals’ Committee for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.
Some experts at the Vatican, however, the Agency declares, fear that establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel would alienate the Arab states, and are advising that nothing be done along that line until United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdel Nasser visits, the Pope. Such a visit is expected next autumn.
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