The Pope brought the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the presidents of Israel and Palestine together on Pentecost Sunday for an unprecedented prayer service in the Vatican Gardens.

Here below is Pope Francis' address at this evening's Invocation for Prayer in the Vatican Gardens in the presence of Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

During a trip to Israel and the region last month Pope Francis invited President Shimon Peres and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to join him at the Vatican to pray for peace.

Peres mentioned the peace invocation ceremony at the Vatican Sunday, saying that both sides deserved peace and neither could afford to give up on the chances of attaining it.