“Regarding the beginning of the [Second Vatican] Council 60 years ago, we should not forget the danger of nuclear war that menaced the world right at that time,” Pope Francis said during his October 9 Angelus address, in reference to the Cuban missile crisis.

He continued, “Why don’t we learn from history? Even at that moment, there were conflicts and huge tensions, but the way of peace was chosen. It is written in the Bible: ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’ (Jer 6:16).”