Fear and hope

During these early days of October, the conflict on Ukrainian soil has seen a dramatic escalation, and by now the whole world is waiting with bated breath. The nightmare of a nuclear war has loomed much closer, becoming a concrete and highly probable possibility. In the month of October of precisely 60 years ago, the world was in the same situation, caused in that case by the Cuban missile crisis: on 22 October 1962, President of the United States John F. Kennedy appeared on television to announce the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba. The crisis formally began on the 16th of the month and lasted until the 28th. For 13 days, the world held its breath. The crisis was averted and among others, the intervention of Pope John XXIII, who tried to mediate between Kennedy and the then leader of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, was very ...