Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Pope Francis to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas this week in Vatican
Pope Francis (L) speaks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of a private audience at the Vatican, on December 3, 2018. (Andrew Medichini / POOL / AFP)
Pope Francis will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, the Vatican says in a planning note.
Abbas is traveling to Italy this week, where he is expected also to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Francis and Abbas have met several times in the past.
The pope has recently become more vocal in his criticism of Israel’s military campaign in the ongoing conflict with Hamas, saying in recently reported comments that some experts view the war in Gaza as a “genocide,” and attending the inauguration over the weekend of a Vatican nativity scene in which baby Jesus was lying on a keffiyeh, the scarf used as a national symbol for Palestinians.
