Catholic Pope Grants PLO Leader Abbas another Audience

This Friday was the fourth time, since becoming pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, that the leader of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas has met Benedict. In May 2009 Benedict visited Israel, where he gave a large public relations boost for the Arab Palestinian cause and also called for the creation of a Palestinian state. The last pope, John Paul II, reached out to Arafat the leader of the PLO and supported him even when was still considered a terrorist in the 1980's. Arafat became a frequent visitor to the Vatican. The pope and Abbas meeting yesterday did not receive much media coverage and little was reported about it. The main point of the meeting was made quite clear however, by means of a statement issued after the meeting. The central theme was: "...the attainment of the Palestinian people’s legitimate aspirations for an independent State."