The Vatican flatly rejected a U.S. invitation to join the Trump-led “Board of Peace” for Gaza. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem previously described the project as “a colonialist operation” focused on “others deciding for the Palestinians.”
Pope Frances condemned the Israeli bombing in Gaza in his annual Christmas address, telling Cardinals and other senior leaders in the Vatican, “This is cruelty, not war.”
Weeks before Pope Francis is due to arrive in Israel May 24 for a three-day…