Senior Palestinian Official on his hopes for the papal visit to the Holy Land

(Vatican Radio)  How do the Palestinian authorities view this weekend’s pilgrimage  by Pope Francis to the Holy Land that includes a 6-hour visit  to Bethlehem in the West Bank?  Could it have any impact on the quest for peace in this land and specifically on the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians?  To find out the answers  Susy Hodges spoke to Dr Nabil Shaath, a former prime minister of Palestine and a senior member of the Fatah Central Committee during a visit to the Holy Land earlier this year.

Listen to the interview with Dr Nabil Shaath: 

Dr Shaath is convinced that Pope Francis’s visit will have a strong impact in view of his worldwide influence as a spiritual leader, saying,  “Any gesture he makes supporting peace with be important.”  He also believes that the papal visit will help provide solidarity and be a morale  booster  for Christians in Bethlehem by “supporting an end to the confiscation of territory” and also by encouraging the Christian population to remain in the Holy Land and not be forced to emigrate overseas.   

All in all, this papal visit, he says, will produce spiritual value and support and also produce influence (on the political level) to “support the Palestinian people and the Israeli people in their quest for a just peace.”