Pope meets with Netanyahu at Vatican

Pope Francis and Vatican officials expressed hope that Palestinians and Israelis can forge a peace agreement “as soon as possible” as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the pontiff Monday, the Vatican said. The meeting with Netanyahu at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace comes months ahead of Francis’ anticipated trip to the Holy Land, a biblical region that includes Israel and the Palestinian territories. Netanyahu also met with the Vatican’s secretary of state, Archbishop Pietro Parolin. The discussions focused on “the complex political and social situation in the Middle East, with particular reference to the reinstatement of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, expressing hope that a just and lasting solution respecting the rights of both parties may be reached as soon as possible,” the Vatican said. Pope Francis is expected to visit Israel on May 25-26, an official Israeli source told CNN last month. The Vatican would not confirm the exact dates of the trip. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas invited Francis to travel to the Palestinian territories during Abbas’ visit to the Vatican in October. Pope Francis met with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the Vatican in April. A Vatican communique issued after that meeting said they had discussed the hope for a speedy resumption of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, visited the Holy Land in May 2009. Pope Francis on Tuesday called for major changes in the Roman Catholic Church- from the top down- saying he knows it will be a messy business but he expects his flock to dive in feet-first. Pope Francis slams market ‘tyranny’ Pope calls for major changes in Church “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” the Pope said Tuesday in a major new address. “I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.” The Pope’s address, called an “apostolic exhortation,” is basically a pep talk from the throne of St. Peter. Officially known in Latin as “Evangelii Gaudium,” (The Joy of the Gospel) the 85-page document is the first official papal document written entirely by Francis