Bil D, that's ridiculous. Mugabe's movements in Europe are tightly controlled - in fact he is banned from travel in the EU to all intents and purposes. He could not have got to Vatican City without dispensation, short of landing a private jet in St Peter's Square. In any case, the visiting heads of state were not merely "part of the crowd," any more than the serried ranks of cardinals.

Joe, Francis's two predecessors had been building up cordial relations with Palestine and no doubt that policy will continue. Both visited the Holy Land, including Bethlehem in the West Bank.

In some ways the relationship with Palestine is less of a challenge than that with Israel. In the latter case there are always tensions: partly historic, going back through the blood libel to the crucifixion; and partly present-day. (There has been a series of difficult negotiations about Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, for instance, in which - among other things - the Vatican finished up ceding control of the so-called last-supper room to Israel.