ROME – A top cardinal and leading papal diplomat who served as Pope Francis' special envoy to Iraq
has addressed the issue of how peace in the Holy Land could require a change of mentality in which both Israel and Palestine recognise and respect each other’s right to exist, regardless of whether that is together as one state or as two separate entities.

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni, a veteran diplomat and currently Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, replied to the question of whether the two-state solution was still a viable option, admitting “I can’t say”.

The Vatican has long insisted on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate, a position reaffirmed recently by Pope Francis in an interview with an Italian media outlet. Filoni’s comments represent one of the first hints that at least some in the Vatican may be rethinking that stance.