The Head of the Roman Church visits the Jewish State of Israel

If we go back in history, we discover that the Vatican has been against the idea of the State of Israel from the start. In the book "The Vatican and Zionism" by Sergio I. Minerbi, he points out that "...the Holy See's policy toward political Zionism is inseparable from the Catholic Church's religious stand regarding the Jews." and he notes that, "For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church has taken the theological position that the Church is the "true Israel" and the exclusive heir of the Bible." On May 19, 1896 when Herzl met with the nuncio, or Vatican Ambassador in Vienna and made a proposal for a Jewish state with Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth extra-territorialized and the capital elsewhere, the Ambassador's reply was: "I believe Rome will be against us, because she does not consider the solution of the Jewish Question in a Jewish state, and perhaps even fears it."