Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen), during a private audience at the Vatican, 14 January 2017. It is the fourth time the pontiff meets Abu Mazen after the hearing on October 17, 2013, a prayer meeting for peace with Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew on June 8, 2014, and another hearing on May 16, 2015, on the eve of the canonization of four nuns at the Vatican, including two Palestinians. Other meetings occurred in Bethlehem on May 25, 2014, during the pope’s trip to the Holy Land. The Palestinian President is awaited in Paris on Sunday, where a conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been scheduled. ANSA / POOL – GIUSEPPE LAMI
