Holy See, PLO resume talks

(December 10, 2010) Talks between the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) resumed on Thursday at the headquarters of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah, in the Palestinian Territories, following the Basic Agreement signed between the two sides in 2000. A joint-declaration released by the Vatican Press Office said the talks aimed at a comprehensive international agreement regulating and promoting the presence and activities of the Catholic Church in the Palestinian Territories, thus strengthening the special relations between the Holy See and the PLO. Thursday’s talks were co-chaired by Msgr. Ettore Balestrero, Vatican’s under-secretary for Relations with States, and Ziad Al-Bandak, President Abbas’ advisor for Christian relations. The cordial talks agreed on establishing a working group to elaborate the comprehensive agreement. Way back in Oct. 1995, the Vatican established "permanent and official" relations with the PLO, though not at the level of embassy. In February 2000, a month before Pope John Paul’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the PLO signed an agreement with the Vatican to protect freedom of religion and the legal status of Christian churches in the Palestinain territories and in a future Palestinian state.