DNA
May 18, 2025
Representing President Mahmoud Abbas, Dr. Ramzi Khouri, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Head of the Higher Presidential Committee for Church Affairs, participated today in the inaugural mass of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican.
Dr. Khouri led the official Palestinian delegation, accompanied by Dr. Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and member of the Committee, and Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, the State of Palestine’s envoy to the Holy See.
Dr. Khouri delivered a personal letter from President Abbas to the pontiff, extending sincere congratulations and blessings on the occasion of his official inauguration and the commencement of his sacred ministry as the head of the Catholic Church.
President Abbas praised the Pope’s inaugural address, delivered from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, describing it as a heartfelt call for peace and bridge-building among nations, one that resonated deeply with all those yearning for justice and security around the world.
On behalf of the President, Dr. Khouri extended an official invitation to His Holiness to undertake a historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land – bringing a message of peace and blessing to the Palestinian people and to the sacred places of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, and Jerusalem, the city of His resurrection.
The letter expressed hope that His Holiness would offer a prayer for peace from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, making this spiritual journey a powerful and sincere call to end war and injustice, particularly against the Palestinian people, and to extend a message of peace and hope to the entire world.
President Abbas also reaffirmed the profound shared values between the Catholic Church and the Palestinian people, and emphasized the critical spiritual and diplomatic role the Holy See plays in advancing global peace. He cited the words of Pope Saint John Paul II: “Without peace in Jerusalem, there will be no peace in the world,” and echoed the Gospel: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
The delivery of this message further affirms the longstanding historical and spiritual bonds between the State of Palestine and the Holy See, and reiterates the Palestinian
leadership’s steadfast commitment to dialogue and the pursuit of a just and lasting peace.
