“What is needed are peacemakers, not fomenters of conflict; firefighters not arsonists; preachers of reconciliation and not instigators of destruction.”

Piling violence on violence is not a strategy toward peace; it is a dangerous reflex that could just prolong the suffering.

Pope Francis used his traditional Easter Sunday message to call the bombing of a refugee convoy near Aleppo a “despicable attack” and urged world leaders to “prevent the spread of conflicts” despite mounting tensions in Syria and North Korea.

"ISIS had written really vile things about Jesus and the church. The convent was burned and gutted. Everything was stolen. Anything holy in their mind was burned."

Despite recent and repeated terrorist attacks against Egypt's minority Christian communities, Pope Francis will not cancel his visit to Egypt.