Security has been tight around the Vatican for the Christmas season, with military jeeps stationed at key access routes and tourists undergoing metal detector and bag searches. “Our differences, then, are not a detriment or a danger; they are a source of richness,” he said. The Argentinian-born pope also called for social harmony in Nicaragua and Venezuela, both racked by internal political conflicts. In Ukraine, he called for “a peace respectful of the rights of every nation”. Ukraine’s relations with Russia have been locked in a downward spiral since Moscow annexed Crimea 2014 and backed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Source: bd News24 December 25, 2018 13:52 UTC