Pope Paul VI, in his annual Christmas address to the College of Cardinals in the Vatican City, has said that Israel would help the process of peace in the Middle East if it were to “recognize the rights and legitimate aspirations” of the “Palestinian people.”
According to a report on the message received here, the Pope said; “Although we are also convinced of the necessity for a just and wisely balanced global solution, we permit ourselves to exhort the various responsible parties not to neglect the concrete possibility, though modest, offered for starting negotiations and establishing a favorable atmosphere.”
The Pope added that “although aware of the tragedy that has pushed the Israeli people to seek a secure and protective garrison in their own sovereign and independent state, we want to invite the Children of Israel to recognize the rights and legitimate aspirations of another people which also have suffered for so long–the Palestinian people.”
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