Pope meets Mahmoud Abbas

Mr. Abbas is in Rome for the canonization Sunday of two 19-century nuns from what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine.

Pope Francis (R) meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a private audience at Vatican City on Saturday.

Pope Francis praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as an “angel of peace” during a meeting on Saturday at the Vatican that underscored the Holy See’s warm relations with the Palestinians as it prepares to canonize two 19th century nuns from the region.

Pope Francis made the compliment during the traditional exchange of gifts at the end of an official audience in the Apostolic Palace. He presented Mr. Abbas with a medallion and explained that it represented the “angel of peace destroying the bad spirit of war.”

During his 2014 visit to Israel and the West Bank, Pope Francis called both Mr. Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres men of peace.

Mr. Abbas is in Rome for the canonization Sunday of two 19-century nuns from what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine. The new saints, Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, are the first from the region to be canonized since the early days of Christianity.

In a statement Saturday, Mr. Abbas praised the two new saints as inspirational models for today’s Palestinians and urged Christians like them to remain in the region.

“We call on Palestinian Christians to stay with us and enjoy the rights of full and equal citizenship, and bear with us the difficulties of life until we achieve liberty, sovereignty and human dignity,” he said.

Mr. Abbas’ visit comes days after the Vatican finalised a bilateral treaty with the “state of Palestine” that made explicit its recognition of Palestinian statehood.