Vatican Seeks to Quiet Uproar Over Pope’s ‘Angel of Peace’ Remark

posted on: May 20, 2015

Every word counts in the delicate diplomacy of the Middle East, where negotiators have often resorted to creative ambiguity.

So Pope Francis’ sotto voce greeting to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority during a meeting at the Vatican on Saturday, in which he referred to Mr. Abbas as an “angel of peace,” but with an uncertain verb, has caused a linguistic and political furor that is still resonating days later.

Did the pope tell Mr. Abbas “You are an angel of peace,” as many news outlets, including the main Italian news agency ANSA, The Associated Press and The New York Times, reported? That phrasing pleased Palestinians but infuriated some Israelis and Jewish leaders around the world.

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Or was the pope encouraging Mr. Abbas with the words, “May you be an angel of peace,” as other major Italian news media, like La Repubblica and La Stampa, reported, a formulation that suggested more exhortation than commendation, and sounded better to pro-Israeli ears.

It all seemed to boil down to the difference between the verb “sei,” Italian for “you are,” and “sia,” which means “may you be.” Pro-Israeli advocates were quick to pick up on the discrepancies, but Vatican officials did little to clarify the matter.

And on Monday night, The Associated Press, after a review of a videotape as well as written notes, corrected the quote to add two words: “You are a bit an angel of peace,” according to Paul Colford, a spokesman for the news agency.

Israel has claimed Mr. Abbas incites violence among Palestinians and has blamed him for the breakdown in peace talks last year. Palestinians see the Israelis as instigators of violence and as the main obstacle to a peace settlement. Neither side is ready to accept that the other is an angel, or messenger, of peace.

The discord came in what had already been a tense week for the triangle of Vatican-Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Vatican announced Wednesday that it would soon sign a treaty that includes recognition of the “state of Palestine,” lending symbolic weight to an intensifying Palestinian push for international support for sovereignty that bypasses negotiating with Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it was disappointed by the Vatican’s decision, though the Vatican effectively granted recognition after the United Nations granted Palestine nonmember observer status in 2012. Over all, 135 nations have recognized a state of Palestine. The British, French, Spanish and Irish Parliaments have in recent months passed resolutions urging their governments to follow suit.

The conversation at the center of the uproar took place before a small, preselected pool of reporters. The “angel of peace” phrase was murmured softly and was, those present said, difficult to hear.

The pope was speaking in Italian, which he speaks well, but not natively. So it is not entirely clear whether he confused sei and sia, whether those straining to hear deciphered it differently, or if in the course of the conversation he said both. In 2014, during a visit to Israel and the West Bank, the pope did indeed refer to Mr. Abbas as “a man of peace and a peacemaker.”

Source: www.nytimes.com