Today, September 14, 2014, in Redipuglia, Italy, according to Colleen Barry and Luca Bruno of the Associated Press: Pope Francis urged the world Saturday to shed its apathy in the face of what he characterizes as a third world war, intoning ” war is madness” at the foot of a grandiose monument to soldiers killed in World War 1.
Francis’ aim in recalling those who died in the Great War that broke out 100 years ago was to honor the victims of all wars, and it came as his calls for peace have grown ever more urgent amid new threats in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Standing at an alter beneath the towering Redipuglia memorial entombing 100,000 Italian soldiers fallen in World War 1, the Pope said “even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third world war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction…”
In his homily during an open-air Mass at the Italian monument, the Pope remembered the victims of every war – up to today.
“Today, too, the victims are many,” fallen to behind the scenes “interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for money and power,” the Pope said.
He lamented that the human toll of “senseless massacres” and “mindless wars” has been met with apathy. Francis urged: “Humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep.”