Pope Francis: ‘The World Is At War’

In a brief address aboard the papal plane en route to Krakow for World Youth Day, Pope Francis expressed his conviction that the world is at war, but it is not a religious war, since every religion wants peace.

The Pope told journalists traveling with him that the world is not only insecure, it is at war. “But it’s a real war, not a religious war,” Francis said.

“It’s a war of interests, a war for money. A war for natural resources and for the dominion of the peoples. Some might say it’s a religious war. Every religion wants peace. The war is wanted by the others. Understood?” he said.

Francis also addressed the brutal murder of the 86-year-old priest Jacques Hamel, whose throat was slit in northern France on Tuesday by two Islamic terrorists as he was celebrating Mass.

The self-declared members of the Islamic State terror group forced the priest to kneel down before slitting his throat, offering a spontaneous sermon in Arabic.

“This holy priest who died in the very moment he was offering a prayer for the whole Church,” Francis said Wednesday. “There are so many Christians, so many innocents, so many children … let’s think about Nigeria … ‘But it’s Africa’ … But it’s war!”

“Let’s not be afraid to say the truth. The world is at war, because it’s lost its peace!” he added.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter  Follow @tdwilliamsrome