DECLARATION ON MEETING WITH ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER

VATICAN CITY, JUL 11, 2003 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Fr. Ciro Benedettini, C.P., vice director of the Holy See Press Office, made the following declaration:

"This afternoon, Thursday July 10, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State, accompanied by Msgr. Pietro Parolin, undersecretary for Relations with States, met with Silvan Shalom, minister of Foreign Affairs for the State of Israel.

"In the course of the discussions, they spoke about the current process of reconciliation and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. In the name of the Holy Father, His Eminence expressed the fervent desire for an intensification of and rapid conclusion to the process.

"The meeting then allowed for the review of some bilateral questions that interest the life of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and that should be urgently resolved based on the resolutions of the Fundamental Agreements of 1993."

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