Francis invites church leaders to summit

Pope Francis has called heads of the Oriental Catholic Churches in the Middle East to join him for a summit in Rome later this month to discuss the "real possibilities for peace" in Syria, Iraq and the Holy Land.

The one-day meeting is to take place in Rome on 21 November. 

The Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano said Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, announced the special gathering last Saturday, with all the patriarchs and major archbishops of the Oriental Catholic Churches invited. 

They will already be in Rome for the congregation's 19-21 November plenary assembly.

L'Osservatore Romano said the summit would be an opportunity to "raise a collegial prayer for Christians from those martyred countries" in the Middle East. 

It noted that Pope Benedict held a similar meeting with Eastern Church leaders in 2009.