This weekend, Pope Francis is continuing the push for peace he began during his recent visit to the Middle East, as he hosts Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres for a special Vatican prayer meeting. Francis says he believes prayer is a key element in the peace process.

Earlier in the week, he renewed calls for peace in Syria and criticized what he called a “globalization of indifference” which has numbed people to the ongoing violence and humanitarian devastation caused by that conflict.

Editor’s Note: At a June 6 press conference briefing reporters, Vatican officials confirmed that Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew will participate in the June 8 interreligious prayer service.