From many viewpoints, Pope Francis' visit to the Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem is key to understanding the macro view of the Vatican's role in the Middle East today.

As author Martin Buber pointed out, Adam hid himself to avoid accountability to God. He believed God could not see him. This is exactly the start of what we call "modernity." The belief in being hidden to God. It is the start of man’s fear of God that becomes the main distortion and deception of evil — the idea that "you need no longer fear the judgment of God," the greatest blasphemy.

In relation to the strategic, geopolitical, military and social situation of the Middle East, there is much light to be shed on Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and today Adam cannot hear a voice.

The current crisis stems from the Cold War, yet we must go beyond and think in terms of what can be accomplished today. After the 20th Communist Party of the Soviet Union Congress of 1956, the Arab world enjoyed favorable treatment granted by the USSR to the "national bourgeoisie," while today we are faced with failed "green" revolutions or orange revolutions due to the historical tragedy of the Arab autocracies and their structural instability.

Hence, with religious humility, we propose the follow: Israel could relinquish one part (chosen from doctrinal, historical, and political viewpoints) of the city of Jerusalem, thus ensuring proper division and appeasement.

There was a time in which Cardinal Roncalli, apostolic nuncio to Paris, who was to become Pope John XXIII, entered a room together with the chief rabbi of Paris, replied to  “After you, Excellency” by saying "The Old Testament before the New."

The Palestinians, of whom ultimately a true cultural and identity history shall be defined, need to establish a state that fulfills not only their dreams of greatness, but also their history.

The PNA should have an area of control over Jerusalem that covers the traditional Islamic zones, with a regulated right-of-way on the Esplanade of the Mosques, or Temple Mount, and a subsequent right-of-way for the holy places, in order for them to honor current customs.

Furthermore, an international treaty should be be conceived finally defining — and clarifying ambiguities of the Cold War — the status of Jerusalem, which partially could be the capital city of Eretz Israel and  the controlled religious reference point of Islam; finally the reference area for the various and subsequent monotheistic traditions derived from the biblical tradition.

We are still too focused on the East-West system; we must go well beyond this and think outside the box.

A political authority could oversee on the Holy City, fully controlled by an ad hoc international organization; a specific body controlled by the three monotheistic traditions; a series of treaties is necessary, based on customs and Protestant religions, with special attention paid to the Slav and Greek Orthodox religions.

As Goethe used to say, everything is possible; only if you succeed in considering the impossible possible, can you discover something new.

Professor Giancarlo Elia Valori is president of "La Centrale Finanziaria Generale Spa," one of Italy's leading financial firms.