Vatican City, Nov 10, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Vatican issued a statement following the death of Palestinian National Authority president Yasser Arafat, who passed away this morning in a military hospital in Paris at the age of 75, asking for peace in the Holy Land and for “two independent and sovereign States, fully reconciled with each other."
Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who read the statement, said “the Holy See joins in the pain of the Palestinian people.”
Arafat, he continued, “was a leader of great charisma who loved his people and sought to lead them towards national independence.”
“May God welcome in His mercy the soul of the illustrious deceased and give peace to the Holy Land, with two independent and sovereign States, fully reconciled with each other," he said.