Pope Francis falls as he arrives at the Jasna Gora shrine in Czestochowa, Poland (photo, IFP)
Pope Francis who arrived in Poland on Wednesday said that the world is at war as he addressed the slaying of a Catholic priest by radical Islamists in France, but he stressed it was not a war of religion.
The priest was killed by two attackers who struck in the name of ISIS with another hostage seriously wounded, and this is the latest terror atrocity to roil Europe in recent weeks.
Speaking on the papal plane en route to Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day celebrations, Francis said the world had been in “a piecemeal war” for some time.
He said Tuesday’s killing of the Rev. Jacques Hamel, 86, in St.-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France, was one casualty in this conflict.
“The world is at war because it has lost peace,” he said.
“There is a war of interest, there is a war for money, a war for natural resources, a war to dominate people,” he continued.
“Some might think it is war of religion. It is not. All religions want peace. Others want war.”