King Abdullah II of Jordan is considered the custodian of the Christian and Muslim holy sites in the city of Jerusalem. This title was granted to the king under the terms of the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. In March of this year Abdullah's position as custodian was strengthened when the head of the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement in which Jordan will defend Jerusalem and its holy sites.
The Roman Catholic church has a great deal of interest in Jerusalem. They have property rights in the city and would like to have even more authority. So it is interesting when these two individuals who share little else in common get together for a chat. Ostensibly, the meeting was about the situation in Syria.
Pope, Jordanian king agree dialogue 'only option' in Syria
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis
and King Abdullah of Jordan agreed on Thursday that dialogue was the
"only option" to end the conflict in Syria, the Vatican
said, as the United States and its allies weighed plans for a
military strike.
Abdullah flew to Rome specifically to
meet the pope to discuss the Middle East crisis. The king, Queen
Rania and the pope spoke privately for 20 minutes in the Vatican's
apostolic palace.
The king and the pontiff "reaffirmed
that the path of dialogue and negotiations among all components of
Syrian society, with the backing of the international community, is
the only option to end the conflict and the violence that each day
cause the loss of so many human lives, most of all among the
defenseless population", the Vatican said in a statement.
Last Sunday, the pope spoke of
"atrocious acts" following an apparent poison gas attack
that residents in a Damascus neighborhood say killed hundreds of
people.
The pope and the king met a day after
U.S. officials described plans for multi-national strikes on Syria
that could last for days, and as Washington and its European and
Middle East allies said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must face
retribution for using banned weapons against his people.
Oh! And look! The Queen wore a veil.
