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In Easter Message, Pope Backs Israel-Palestine Peace
Sends message to Italy earthquake survivors
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Apr 12, 09 6:34 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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In his Easter message, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Israel-Palestine peace efforts, acknowledged Italy’s earthquake survivors, and called for hope in trying times, Reuters reports. “At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty...it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope,” he told tens of thousands at a St. Peter’s Square Mass this morning.
“Reconciliation—difficult, but indispensable—is a precondition for a future of overall security and peaceful coexistence,” said the pope, who will travel to the Holy Land in May. “It can only be achieved through renewed, persevering and sincere efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” He called the resurrection a “cry of victory that unites us all today.”