Pope voices sympathy for Jewish State in Palestine

Rome, 8 June 1917 - Pope Benedict XV met Nahum Sokolow, a member of the Zionist Executive Committee, for 45 minutes yesterday in Rome.

The Pope stated that he saw no obstacle to the establishment of a national home in Palestine for Jewish people and was concerned only with the holy places, which, he trusted, would be properly safeguarded by special arrangement.

Mr Sokolow gave the assurance that the Jewish people would most carefully respect Christian religious properties and Christian sentiments. Ultimately, the Pope declared that Jewish efforts to establish a national home in Palestine were viewed by him sympathetically and he expressed his best wishes for the realisation of the Zionist programme.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]