Southeast and southern Ukraine, 2015: the Ukrainian government in Kiev seeks alignment with the European Union and, possibly, with Nato.

The Russian-speaking eastern and southern Ukrainians seek alignment with Russia.

Separatism is in the air, leading to armed conflict and a US low-key military involvement.

Syria, since 2011, has had a civil war, with 200,000 dead and 6.5 million refugees in neighbouring countries. No end is in sight.

In Iraq, a civil sectarian war goes on, exploited by ISIS offensives and civil unrest persists in Egypt.

In Libya, after a four-year-old revolution and an uprising, tribal and sectarian conflicts go on, without any resolution in sight.

Civil unrest and armed struggle remain in Yemen and in the Democratic Republic of Congo the people still face civil and cross-border conflicts.

Can military solutions work? Can a diplomatic solution work? What will bring about peace?

Maybe the solutions to these internal and external conflicts are social, political and economic or, maybe, they are also spiritual, through prayer.

It is sometimes said that when the child Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, peace had reigned in the whole world for some appreciable time.

Can this be repeated today?

Indeed, we need to actively pray for peace.

These are the Pope’s words.