Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Pope Benedict in the Vatican next week during the Italian leg of a European tour aimed at easing the international isolation of the Palestinian administration.
The meeting, the second between the pope and Abbas, will take place on Tuesday and analysts expect it will probably focus, at least in part, on the stalled Israel-Palestinian peace process.
Pope Benedict, in his Easter message, said there were "some signs of hope" in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian authority.
His comment followed the formation of a Palestinian unity government last month, when Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction formed a unity government.
Last time Abbas met Benedict, in December 2005, he invited the pope to visit Jerusalem. The pontiff accepted but no date was ever set.
Jerusalem could be on the agenda again on Tuesday. The Catholic Church has always been deeply concerned about the disputed status of the city, which is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
During the rest of his time in Rome, Abbas will meet Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Premier Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema.
The Italian foreign ministry said Thursday the talks would focus on the latest "positive" meeting between Abbas and Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert and the prospect of the European Union resuming its temporary aid programme to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Abbas is visiting Rome along with eight other European countries in a bid to get an international aid embargo lifted.
Before his tour, which he kicked off in Paris last week, Abbas met Olmert in the first of a series of fortnightly sessions proposed by the United States.
Olmert said he was willing to have another look at a revived Saudi peace plan, originally proposed in 2002.
Also on Thursday, the Italian foreign ministry said there were "encouraging signs" that prisoner swap could be agreed with Egyptian mediation to secure the release of an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in mid-June.
Earlier this month, D'Alema urged the new Palestinian government to officially recognise Israel.
After April 2 talks in Rome with Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa al-Barghuti, D'Alema said it was "essential" that the new government move towards the full acceptance of the three principles indicated by the (Middle East) Quartet: recognising Israel, renouncing violence and accepting existing peace accords.
The Palestinian unity government is made up of Hamas Islamists, Abbas's Fatah movement and some independents.
Sworn in last month, it replaced a year-old Hamas government.
The Middle East Quartet, comprising the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, boycotted the Hamas government and cut off aid to the Palestinian region because the militant movement refused the three principles.
Hamas is hoping the creation of the unity government will convince at least the EU to lift its embargo and Palestinian ministers have already begun touring European capitals in a bid to drum up support for the new administration.
European foreign ministers recently agreed to meet non-Hamas members of the government but warned it not to expect the swift resumption of aid.
