Vatican recognises Palestine ahead of Abbas visit

The Vatican has officially recognised the state of Palestine, giving a boost to the Palestinian leadership's quest for international recognition ahead of the Pope's meeting with President Abbas this weekend.

In a statement issued on Wednesday regarding talks over a treaty to regulate the church's activities on Palestinian territory, the Vatican explicitly referred to the "State of Palestine", underlining the diplomatic recognition it extended to Palestine in 2012 following a vote at the UN General Assembly.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the statement was a recognition that the Palestinian state exists.

Palestine's representatives in the Vatican are working on a treaty that would regulate the activities of the Catholic Church in Palestine. The deal has yet to be signed or made public, but the phrasing of the statement makes it clear that the Holy See now recognises the State of Palestine, as opposed to the PLO.

The treaty itself could also be a snub to Israel if it deals with taxation and the status of Catholic holy sites in Palestine, a Palestinian church official familiar with the negotiations told al-Araby al-Jadeed. Israel and the Vatican have spent years in negotiations over the status of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, including tax issues.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was disappointed by the statement.

"This move does not promote the peace process and distances the Palestinian leadership from returning to direct and bilateral negotiations," the ministry told Associated Press.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set to arrive in Rome on Thursday ahead of a meeting with the Pope on Sunday. Abbas will attend Francis' canonization Sunday of two new saints from the Holy Land.

The Vatican's deputy foreign minister, Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, said in an interview with the Holy See's official newspaper that he hoped the agreement would indirectly help the Palestinian State in its relations with Israel.

"It would be positive if the accord could in some way help with the establishment and recognition of an independent, sovereign and democratic State of Palestine which lives in peace and security with Israel and its neighbours," he told l'Osservatore Romano.

The 2012 U.N. vote recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state, made up of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

The Palestinians celebrated the vote as a milestone in their quest for international recognition.