Pope to make rare visit to Israel in May, following months of Jewish-Catholic tension

           Pope Benedict XVI is set to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in May 2009 after accepting an invitation by President Shimon Peres. The Vatican and Israel are said, thus, to hopefully end the high tension of recent months between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people over the initiative of canonizing Pope Pius XII. This visit, which would be the third visit of a pope to Israel since the establishment of the state, has not yet been officially confirmed. Peres met about two weeks ago with Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco, the pope's envoy to Israel. Franco told the president that Benedict would respond positively to an invitation from Israel. The president sent the invitation, and a positive response was indeed reportedly received.(20,19)