Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the deadly incident in Ukraine involving a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane. A statement from the Press Office of the Holy See reads: “The Holy Father, Pope Francis has learned with dismay of the tragedy of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft downed in east Ukraine, a region marked by high tensions. He raises prayers for the numerous victims of the incident and for their relatives, and renews his heartfelt appeal to all parties in the conflict to seek peace and solutions through dialogue, in order to avoid further loss of innocent human lives.”