REDIPUGLIA, ITALY – Pope Francis presided over a celebration Saturday at the Military Memorial of Redipuglia on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I and said “war is madness” even as he said Word War III is upon us.
Pope Francis honored the victims of all wars at his appearance at the memorial – which entombs 100,000 Italian soldiers – and again urged peace.
Noting the destructive conflicts now roiling the Middle East, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere, Francis’ words were stark.
“Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction,” Francis said to the massive crowd. “Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep.
“War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying,” he said. “Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often justified by an ideology.”
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