Pope Francis was asked a question about the Ukraine conflict on his return flight from Bahrain over the weekend, and he responded soberly: “I would like to lament, taking advantage of this question: three world wars in a single century! The one of 1914-1918, the one of 1939-1945, and this one! This one is a world war, because it is true that when empires, either on one side or the other weaken, they need to make a war in order to feel strong—and also to sell weapons! I believe that today the greatest calamity in the world is the arms industry. Please! I’ve been told, I don’t know if it’s true or not, that if we didn’t make weapons for a year, we could end world hunger. The arms industry is terrible.”
He then went on about how terrible war is, from Yemen, to Ethiopia/Tigray, to Syria, and Lebanon. While it was left ambiguous what his meaning of “empires weakening” was, certainly the wars he mentioned were not the fault of Russia.
In addition, a couple of days prior, on Nov. 4, Francis tweeted: “In the garden of humanity, we are playing with fire, missiles and bombs, with weapons that bring sorrow and death, covering our common home with ashes and hatred. I extend my heartfelt appeal to everyone that the war in Ukraine be ended and that serious peace negotiations begin.” (https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1588493765722841093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
