The Vatican's “number two,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, welcomed the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron to recognize the State of Palestine. He spoke about it in comments on the sidelines of an event in Rome on July 28, 2025. When questioned by several journalists, including I.MEDIA, the Secretary of State expressed his hope that Israel would take steps to avoid further “mistakes” after the bombing of a Catholic church in Gaza.
“We’ve already recognized [the State of Palestine], [...] for us it’s the solution,” Cardinal Parolin said in response to Emmanuel Macron's announcement. On July 24, the French president announced that France would officially recognize the State of Palestine in September at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A two-state solution is needed
The diplomat reiterated the Holy See's longtime position — which recognized the State of Palestine in 2015 — in favor of the recognition of two states, Israel and Palestine, “living side by side, in autonomy but also in collaboration and security.”
While Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described France's decision as “premature,” Cardinal Parolin expressed his hope that other countries would join the initiative.
He welcomed the conference on the implementation of the two-state solution, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, being held on July 28 and 29 in New York.
“The solution lies in direct dialogue between the two parties with a view to establishing two state entities,” he insisted, noting that Israeli settlements in the West Bank were not conducive to rapprochement.
Asked about the Israeli army's bombing of the only Catholic parish in Gaza on July 17, the Secretary of State called for vigilance to “prevent places of worship and humanitarian institutions from being hit again.”
“It is up to Israel to find a way to prevent these mistakes from happening again. [...] Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he insisted.
The Italian cardinal also denounced the “unsustainable” situation in Gaza, lamenting that famine had become “a new weapon” of war.
Resuming relations with the Moscow Patriarchate
Cardinal Parolin also welcomed the first meeting between Leo XIV and Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, the Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, last Saturday.
“It’s important to talk, to keep in touch, and that all this may gradually help to resume relations with the Moscow Patriarchate in a more cordial and constructive manner,” he said.
Under Pope Francis, the disagreements generated by the war in Ukraine erupted publicly.
The Secretary of State also defended the Holy See's neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict. “We have always sought to [...] be close to both sides in helping to find a way forward,” he said.
Leo XIV has repeatedly reiterated Vatican willingness to host “negotiations” between the Russian and Ukrainian sides in the Vatican. But in the pages of La Repubblica last Thursday, Metropolitan Antoine expressed the belief that the the Holy See wouldn't be neutral.
DRC martyrs
Finally, Cardinal Parolin expressed concern about the attack by rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), affiliated with ISIS, which left more than 40 people dead in a parish in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday.
He deplored this new expression of “Islamic jihad imposed by force and violence, [...] an additional problem for a region where there are so many conflicts of an ethnic, cultural and socio-political nature.”
