ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Leo XIV doubled down Sunday on the Holy See’s insistence on a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying in his first airborne news conference that it was the “only solution” that could guarantee justice for both sides.
Leo made the comments as he flew from Istanbul to Beirut for the second and final leg of his maiden voyage as pope. Though Leo has been fielding journalists’ questions at informal gatherings at his country house, the brief encounter marked his first news conference as pope and followed the tradition of his predecessors of using his trips to engage with the media. But it was limited to two questions from Turkish journalists.
The American pope was asked by a Turkish journalist about his private talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and whether they discussed the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Leo confirmed they had, and said that Turkey had an “important role to play” in both conflicts, noting that Erdogan’s government had already helped facilitate low-level negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war.