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Source: http://jcpa.org/the-vaticans-path-toward-official-recognition-of-israel/
The Vatican's Path toward Official Recognition of Israel
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Julian Schvindlerman - The notion that the Jewish people could have a right to self-determination - and even more so in the Holy Land - was anathema to Vatican understanding of the role of the Jew in history. In 1904, Pope Pius X told Theodor Herzl that the Church could not recognize Zionism. Later, the Vatican held an unfavorable view of the Balfour Declaration and instigated diplomatic efforts contrary to the interests of the Zionists. After World War II, the revolutionary dogmatic revision prompted by the Second Vatican Council, called for by Pope John XXIII, represented the theological turning point for a new era of reconciliation, leading to Vatican recognition of the State of Israel in 1993.