Pope Francis recently invited the Presidents of Palestine and Israel to the Vatican to pray for peace in the Middle East. His prayers have about as much chance of being heard as the prayers for peace by Pope John Paul II and other religious leaders who gathered at Assisi in 1986.

Their prayers to the “Prince of Peace” were left unanswered, even though the Pope is supposed to be His Vicar on earth. In fact, the situation in the Middle East became even worse! 

Since the 1986 prayer meeting, we have witnessed the violent uprisings in Gaza and the West Bank in 1987; the catastrophe of 9/11 and the horror of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

John Guillaumier

St Julian’s