From the earliest days of his papacy, when he walked slowly into a grand reception hall in the Apostolic Palace for his first meeting with a curious diplomatic corps, Pope Francis has promoted a fairly conventional foreign policy agenda: fight poverty, pursue peace, bridge ecumenical or interreligious divisions and protect the environment. 

In recent years, the program has been redoubling its efforts to help keep Jewish tradition afloat amid increasing anxiety that young members of the Jewish diaspora are losing their connection to their culture and to Israel. One recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that one-third of Jews under 30 said being Jewish was very important to them. That compares with 54% of Jews 65 and older. Intermarriage, long viewed as a threat to American Judaism, also continues to increase.

The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will meet with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to pray for peace on June 8.  The pontiff extended the invitation to President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas when he was on his official visit to the Holy Land earlier this week.

South Africa's last president under white rule has suggested that Israel risks heading toward apartheid if it does not reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. The comments by F.W. de Klerk echo warnings made by Palestinian, American and dovish Israeli officials. But his words carry special meaning, given his role in South Africa's painful history of race relations. 

Pope Francis waded into the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process upon arriving here on Sunday, issuing an extraordinary invitation to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and President Shimon Peres of Israel to join him in his home in the Vatican for “a heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace.”

With the collapse of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, hundreds of thousands of young people across the Middle East are talking reconciliation online, a former Israeli peace negotiator and founder of the movement said Monday. The Facebook group, which has backing from celebrities including Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Sharon Stone, has attracted almost 500,000 followers from around the region, including youths in the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Muslim countries that have no relations with Israel.