The Vatican's forceful recognition of a Palestinian state May 13 is just the latest in a series of bold diplomatic moves aimed at ensuring that Christians will be able to remain in the birthplace of their faith.

From the beginning of his papacy Pope Francis hasn't hesitated to jump into the bloody politics of the Middle East, starting with his September 2013 appeal for a day of fasting and prayer to protest the planned US military strikes on Syria. Since then he has recognized the Armenian slaughter of 1915 as a genocide and repeatedly called for peace in the region, all in the name of defusing conflicts that threaten to tear apart a rich mosaic of cultures in which Christians once thrived.

"We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians, who have professed the name of Jesus there for [2,000] years," The New York Times quoted the pope as saying during his visit to Turkey last year. 

At other times Francis has sought to highlight the importance of religious and ethnic diversity more broadly. Nassif Hitti, the Arab League ambassador to Rome and the Vatican, said his goal has been to seek solutions to long-simmering conflicts that have fueled extremism and religious intolerance throughout the region.