(CNN) — Pope Francis called for a cease-fire in the Middle East before Sunday’s Angelus prayer and said his meeting in June with the presidents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority was not a waste of time.

"I exhort to all the interested parties and to all of those who have political responsibility at the local and international level to not give up the prayer, nor any effort to cease any hostility and reach the desired peace for the good of all," the Pope said, according to a CNN translation. He spoke in Italian, from the window of his apartment above St. Peter’s Square.

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