Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with Mahmoud Abbas reignites Vatican calls for a two-state solution while ignoring Hamas atrocities and Israel’s security reality.
Rome — In a meeting that many observers see as more political than pastoral, Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican on Thursday, urging renewed efforts toward a two-state solution and humanitarian aid for Gaza.
According to the Vatican communiqué, the one-hour discussion was “cordial” and focused on “the urgent need to provide assistance to Gaza’s civilian population and to end the conflict by pursuing a two-State solution.”
While the tone appeared diplomatic, critics note that the Vatican once again avoided any direct condemnation of Hamas terrorism, the October 7 massacre, or the ongoing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians — an omission that continues to trouble many within the global Jewish community.
A Familiar Vatican Pattern
The meeting came almost a month after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect, yet Pope Leo’s statements repeated the same formula heard for decades: empathy for Gaza’s suffering, silence on the perpetrators.
In September, the Pope told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that a two-state solution was “the only way out of the war,” while simultaneously calling for a permanent ceasefire — language Israel views as rewarding Hamas while Israeli hostages remain unreturned.
Earlier in May, during his first papal address, Leo XIV demanded an “immediate ceasefire” and the release of all hostages — yet again placing moral equivalence between Israel and a terror organization responsible for thousands of deaths.
Abbas’s Vatican Showcase
Abbas’s Rome visit marks the tenth anniversary of the “Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine,” a controversial document that implicitly recognizes a Palestinian state while ignoring decades of incitement and corruption within the PA.
Before meeting the Pope, Abbas paid homage at St. Mary Major Basilica to the tomb of Pope Francis, whose tenure was repeatedly marred by pro-Palestinian rhetoric — including his 2015 remark calling Abbas an “angel of peace.” The Vatican later scrambled to claim mistranslation, saying Francis meant to “encourage Abbas to seek peace,” but the phrase still symbolized Rome’s drift toward the Palestinian narrative.
Moral Blindness in the Name of “Balance”
While Pope Leo XIV speaks of compassion and peace, his latest meeting once again erases Israel’s moral reality: that Hamas initiated the war with barbaric attacks, still holds Israeli bodies, and continues to fire rockets in violation of every truce.
True peace cannot be built on moral ambiguity or selective empathy. Israel’s war is not against Palestinians — it is against terrorism, antisemitism, and denial of its right to exist.
If the Vatican truly seeks reconciliation, it must stop legitimizing those who glorify violence and start recognizing the Jewish people’s ancestral and legal sovereignty in Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria.
Until then, every “cordial” handshake with Mahmoud Abbas will only deepen the moral divide between Rome and Jerusalem.
