Vatican Recognizes ‘Palestine’ Despite Desecration of Holy Sites

JERUSALEM – In a new treaty finalized Wednesday, the Vatican officially recognized the “state of Palestine,” providing the Palestinian Authority with a new victory in its bid to seek unilateral recognition of a state outside the framework of talks with Israel.

The Vatican move comes despite the PA’s history of holy site desecration, the persecution of Christians and the Palestinians’ failure to ensure freedom of worship in territories under its control.

The Vatican treaty governs the Roman Catholic Church in the Palestinian territories. It uses language that changes a diplomatic recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization to instead recognize the non-existent “state of Palestine.”

The document “aims to enhance the life and activities of the Catholic Church and its recognition at the judicial level,” said Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, the Vatican’s deputy foreign minister, who led its six-person delegation in the talks.  Click here to continue reading.