Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Israel and Vatican mend diplomatic fences

AFP via Yahoo! News

Sharon letter to pope ends Vatican-Israel rift

Fri Aug 26, 7:42 AM ET

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sent a letter to
Pope Benedict XVI seeking to end a diplomatic rift with the Vatican over the pope's omission of Israel from a recent condemnation of terrorism, Israel's embassy to the Holy See confirmed.

"A letter from Ariel Sharon to the pope was handed on Tuesday to the Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano by the ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben Hur," an embassy spokeswoman said Friday.

"This letter allows us to put an end to the story, making the necessary clarifications. This disagreement is now behind us," she said, without giving details of the contents.

A papal audience at the Vatican with Israel's two chief rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger, scheduled for September 15, is set to seal the thaw, Italian media reports said.

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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 3:52 PM