(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 02.05.2024).- On Thursday morning, May 2, Pope Francis held a private conversation with King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan, in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. The audience lasted some twenty minutes. According to Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, the dialogue was very cordial, reflecting the long acquaintance that exists between the Pope and the Sovereign of the Hashemite Kingdom, which goes back to their first meeting in 2014, on the occasion of the Holy Father’s trip to the Holy Land, which included a stopover in Amman.
As usual, during the meeting, the Pope and the King exchanged gifts at the end of the audience. Pope Francis gave the Sovereign a mosaic painting representing a “Papal Blessing in Saint Peter’s Square,” made by mosaicists of the Vatican’s Mosaics Studio, as well as volumes of documents of his Magisterium and the Message for the World Day of Peace 2024. In turn, the King corresponded with a metal sculpture elaborated with Arabic letters.
Stressed on the social networks’ accounts of the Kingdom was that the King assured the Pope that Jordan will continue to carry out its religious and historical role in safeguarding the holy sites in Jerusalem. The King talked with the Pontiff about the necessity to halt Jewish settlers’ attacks against Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, warning about the consequences of the continuous Israeli violations of holy sites in Jerusalem.
This meeting was not the first between King Abdullah II and representatives of the Holy See. Last March, His Majesty received in audience in the Al Husseiniya Palace, Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, during the Prelate’s trip to Jordan.
Highlighted on that occasion was the friendship between the Pope and the King, as well as the excellent diplomatic relations between Jordan and the Holy See, which over three decades have borne fruits of cooperation and mutual esteem. During the meeting, concern was shared over the situation in Gaza; the hope was expressed of an immediate ceasefire, and the importance was stressed of respecting the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites, especially during the holy month of Ramadan
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