Pope Francis is welcomed to Bethlehem by the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and senior religious officials. In his arrival remarks, he expressed support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pope Visits Bethlehem on Second Day of Mideast Trip
![Pope Francis (C) leads an open-air mass at Manger Square in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, May 25, 2014. Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for peace on a pilgrimage on Sunday to Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, urging an intensified effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.](https://gdb.voanews.com/af0ea0c8-d06d-40f9-97cd-9bbbb89e5592_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Pope Francis (C) leads an open-air mass at Manger Square in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, May 25, 2014. Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for peace on a pilgrimage on Sunday to Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, urging an intensified effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
![Pope Francis reaches to a girl after a mass in Bethlehem.](https://gdb.voanews.com/49c2c29d-05b6-4299-91f7-7d0efc701515_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Pope Francis reaches to a girl after a mass in Bethlehem.
![A Greek fisherman rescues a Syrian migrant, right, after his boat stalled while crossing from Turkey to the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 22, 2015. More than 260,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Greece so far this year, most reaching the country's eastern islands on flimsy rafts or boats from the nearby Turkish coast.](https://gdb.voanews.com/f18298b7-39b6-4a85-989b-efdfa89bc68e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Greek fisherman rescues a Syrian migrant, right, after his boat stalled while crossing from Turkey to the island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 22, 2015. More than 260,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Greece so far this year, most reaching the country's eastern islands on flimsy rafts or boats from the nearby Turkish coast.
![Palestinians hold pictures of Pope Francis and Palestinian prisoners during a demonstration to call for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails and to support prisoners who have been on hunger strike, in the West Bank town of Nablus.](https://gdb.voanews.com/d07f0aad-d300-48d9-9c24-4acb661c6f0a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Palestinians hold pictures of Pope Francis and Palestinian prisoners during a demonstration to call for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails and to support prisoners who have been on hunger strike, in the West Bank town of Nablus.