Politics and spirituality do not always go hand in hand, not even in the quest for peace, but most certainly the religious aspect can summon unsuspected resources and cross what might appear as otherwise unsurmountable boundaries – as foreseen by Pope Francis when he extended his invitation to President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas during his recent visit to Jerusalem.

Jordan offers sights to delight pilgrims and explorers alike.
“If there’s only one nation in the sky, shouldn’t all passports be valid for it?” The answer to this question posed by Yann Martel in his bestselling novel Life of Pi came to us from our Jordanian tour guide Salah. Proudly sporting a shirt that says, ‘No use for a Name.’ Salahuddin aka Salah is a testament to Jordan’s reputation as a harmonious melting pot of religions and cultures. He tells us that his father is a Muslim, while his grandfather, a Jew.

The Ecumenical Patriarch has accepted the invitation extended by Pope Francis and will be in the Vatican with Presidents Mahmoud Abbas and Shimon Peres.

At the encounter to pray for peace in the Holy Land, called by Pope Francis at the Vatican on June 8, there will be also the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew. Vatican Insider received this confirmation from authoritative sources of the patriarchy. The decision will be made ​​official most likely tomorrow, after the meeting of the synod during which the patriarch will present the initiative.

Pope Francis has sent a message to Catholic charitable organizations working in Syria and has launched a new appeal to the international community to allow humanitarian aid.

“It is with great pain that we witness the failure to find a solution to the Syrian crisis which continues and risks turning into something people are used to.” Francis wrote this in a message to participants of the coordination meeting between the Catholic charitable organizations that operate in the context of the Syrian crisis. The message was delivered this afternoon.

At the General Audience dedicated to his recent trip to the Holy Land Francis said: “I ask forgiveness for what we have done to encourage the division among Christians”.

A powerful initiative of faith and peace was at the heart and centre of a surprising and courageous journey, following in the unforgettable steps of Paul VI’s pilgrimage half a century ago. This sums up Pope Francis’ itinerary in the Holy Land, an event of prime importance that aroused scores of comments even before it concluded. As the Pope predicted, we will need to reflect more deeply on these days — days so full of appointments yet so focused, days in which religion and politics were interwoven, as had been foreseen.

The visit of Pope Francis to the Holy Land was a smashing success as he showed the world that religion can be a force for peace and reconciliation rather than a cause of division and conflict. The scheduled events went smoothly and his unscheduled actions caught the imagination of the world.

One highlight of the visit was the meeting of Pope Francis with Patriarch Bartholomew I in the Holy Sepulcher. Both men like and respect each other and in their friendship witnessed to the respect and cooperation that should mark ecumenical relations.

The Pope brings interfaith dialogue to a region plagued by atrocities committed along religious lines.

Arriving in Jordan with old friends from other faiths, Pope Francis begins his Holy Land tour with an unprecedented move. It's the first time in Vatican history that a Pope has invited a Jewish rabbi and an Islamic leader on board an official delegation making its way to one of the world's holiest, and most contentious cities for worship in unison.

The stated reason for Pope Francis’ visit to Jordan, Israel and Palestine was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s pilgrimage to the region and his revolutionary gesture of reconciliation with the leader of the Orthodox world, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople.

Pope Bergoglio expresses his desire to discuss the Petrine Primacy. “Divisions remain between the churches, even after the first embrace Christians continue to be persecuted, there is the ecumenicalism of sufferance. Like the stone of the sepulchre, we must cast aside the obstacles that stand between Christians.” Francis and Bartholomew embraced in the same place that the historic embrace between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras I took place 50 years ago.