VATICAN
Pope Francis canonized two Palestinian women at a ceremony in Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City Sunday.
Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, founder of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, and Mariam Baouardy, founder of convent in Bethlehem, are the first Palestinians to gain sainthood from the Catholic Church.
About 2,000 people, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Italian Prime Ministry Undersecretary Claudio De Vincenti attended the ceremony.
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal had said in a statement last week that Ghattas and Baouardy joined the religious order in the late 1800s. They died in 1927 and 1878, respectively.
French Jeanne-Emilie de Villeneuve and Italian Maria Cristina were also sanctified during the ceremony.
In his speech, the Pope said that the four nuns had inspired coexistence, solidarity and fraternity.
Abbas, who is holding official talks in the Vatican and Italy, welcomed the canonization and called it a "great honor" for Palestine.
Later, Abbas told the Italian news channel Rainews24 that a "two-state solution" was the only solution for the dispute between Israel and Palestine.
"There is no other way and we believe in it. If the Israeli government and the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] believe in it, this can be realized," he said.
On May 13, the Vatican announced that it had officially recognized Palestine in a new treaty.
The treaty marked a change in the Holy See's official diplomatic recognition from the Palestine Liberation Organization to the State of Palestine.
