DHAKA: Pope Francis announced on Sunday that he will visit Holy Land sites in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories in May, his first trip to the area as pontiff.

Francis, who has made many appeals for peace in the Middle East since his election in March, announced the trip to thousands of people in St Peter’s Square for his Sunday address, reports The Jerusalem Post.

He was invited by both president Shimon Peres and Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas.

The May 24-26 trip to Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem will mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark trip there by Pope Paul VI in 1964, the first by a pope in modern times. Pope John Paul II visited in 2000 and Benedict XVI went in 2009.

BDST: 1850 HRS, JAN 05, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor