Canonisation of two Palestinian nuns seen as richly symbolic act

In a ceremony rich in both political and religious symbolism, Pope Francis yesterday canonised two 19th-century Palestinian nuns.

The elevation to sainthood of the two women, Marie Alphonsine and Mary Bawardi, came at the end of a week when Pope Francis again underlined his concern not only for the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East but also his desire to see a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On Wednesday, the Holy See agreed a bilateral accord with the Palestinian state in relation to the fiscal and legal status of Catholic facilities and personnel on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The agreement in itself was perhaps a matter of bureaucratic routine but the fact that it bore the title Joint Statement of the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine appeared to ruffle some Israeli feathers.

An Israeli foreign ministry official was reported as saying that “the use of the term ‘Palestinian ‘state’ ... does not further the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct bilateral negotiations.”

Palestine recognised

For its part, the Holy See pointed out that it has formally recognised the “State of Palestine” since November 2012 when Palestinians were granted non-member observer status to the

United Nations

. Furthermore, throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Holy See has favoured a two-state solution which offers both security guarantees to

Israel

and self-determination for the Palestinians.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict loomed large again on Saturday morning when the pope met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and called on both parties to work for a "just and lasting solution".

In the context of a Palestinian state where only 1 per cent of the population is Christian, yesterday's canonisations were of huge symbolic importance. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twad, call the canonisations "a message of solidarity and encouragement" to all those Middle East Christians who have been forcibly displaced, deported or otherwise persecuted.