BETHLEHEM - Pope Francis on Sunday invited the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to come to the Vatican to pray for peace a month after U.S.-backed talks aimed at ending the Middle East conflict collapsed. 'In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace,' the Pope said at a Mass in Bethlehem. 'I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer,' Francis said. Asked about the invitation, a spokeswoman for Peres said in Jerusalem that he 'always accepts any kind of initiative to promote peace'. While Abbas heads the Palestinian government, Peres's presidential post is largely ceremonial.
