Pope Francis: World War III Is Already Here
Sep. 13, 2014 8:59am Zach Noble     


Story by the Associated Press; curated by Zach Noble

REDIPUGLIA, Italy (AP) — 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 I.

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 at a time when his calls for peace have grown ever more urgent amid new threats in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Russia, in green, has been accused of covertly invading its smaller neighbor Ukraine, and fighting in Syria, in orange, helped give rise to the Islamic State now threatening a large swath of the Middle East. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)



Russia, in green, has been accused of covertly invading its smaller neighbor Ukraine, and fighting in Syria, in orange, helped give rise to the Islamic State now threatening a large swath of the Middle East. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Standing at an altar beneath the towering Redipuglia memorial entombing 100,000 Italian soldiers fallen in World War I, the pope said “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.”
Pope Francis Warns of World War III Fought Piecemeal, with Crimes, Massacres, Destruction



Pope Francis celebrates an open-air mass in front of the Italy’s largest war memorial, in Fogliano Redipuglia, northern Italy, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Pope Francis has urged the world to shed its apathy in the face of what he sees as a third world war, intoning “war is madness” during a homily at the foot of a Fascist-era World War I monument near the Slovene border. (AP Photo/Paolo Giovannini)

The visit was also infused with intensely personal meaning. The pope’s grandfather fought in Italy’s 1915-17 offensive against the Austro-Hungarian empire waged in the nearby battlefields, surviving to impress upon the future pope the horror of war.
Pope Francis Warns of World War III Fought Piecemeal, with Crimes, Massacres, Destruction



The Italian word “Presente”, refering to a symbolic role call of the fallen soldiers, is engraved on the steps of Italy’s largest war memorial as an Italian Bersagliere trooper stands by a flame during an open-air mass by Pope Francis in front of the monument, in Fogliano Redipuglia, northern Italy, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Pope Francis has urged the world to shed its apathy in the face of what he sees as a third world war, intoning “war is madness” during a homily at the foot of a Fascist-era World War I monument near the Slovene border. (AP Photo/Paolo Giovannini)

An Italian defense ministry official presented the pope with his grandfather’s military record during the commemorations, and the parents of an Italian soldier killed in Afghanistan last year presented Francis with the distinctive feathered Bersagliere cap worn by the Piedmontese corps, famed for a rugged endurance epitomized by their tradition of marching at a jog.

Francis’ grandfather, who hailed from the Piedmont region, belonged to the corps, said Redipuglia parish priest the Rev. Duilio Nardin.

The military records showed that the pope’s grandfather, Giovanni Carlo Bergoglio, was a radio operator during the Isonzo campaign aimed at piercing the Austro-Hungarian defenses. The 12 battles are memorialized at the Redipuglia monument which was dedicated by Italy’s Fascist government in 1938 on the eve of World War II.

The elder Bergoglio, who was drafted at age 31 as Italy entered the war, obtained a certificate of good conduct and 200 lire at the war’s end, according to documents discovered by the Italian bishops’ conference’s media outlets. With postwar Italy’s economy stalled, he emigrated to Argentina where the future pontiff — Jorge Mario Bergoglio — was born.

The pope in the past has recalled the “many painful stories from the lips of my grandfather.”

Before arriving at the monument, the pope prayed privately among the neat rows of gravestones for fallen soldiers from five nations buried in a tidy Austro-Hungarian cemetery just a couple of hundred of meters (yards) away.

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.”

The enduring impact of World War I, 100 years on, is evident in the visitors who continue to make pilgrimages to the monument, although in ever decreasing numbers, said Fogliano di Redipuglia Mayor Antonio Calligaris.

“The Repiduglia sanctuary until 20 years ago was always full of visitors, but it has been forgotten by institutional memory,” Calligaris said. “The papal visit is very important because it renews attention on this history.”

Days before the papal visit, several dozen mostly elderly visitors scaled the 22 granite levels reaching dramatically upward toward three towering crosses that point skyward. The largest Italian war memorial, Redipuglia entombs 100,000 Italian soldiers killed in battle, 60,000 whose identity remains unknown and 40,000 who were identified.

The nearby Austro-Hungarian cemetery, one of several in the area, contains 14,406 dead from five nations that fought under the Austro-Hungarian empire, only 2,406 identified. Among recent tributes is a Hungarian flag signed in July by relatives of a soldier named Istvan Arnter, who died on Nov. 20, 1917.

Many visitors to the Italian monument search the engraved names for their forbears.
Pope Francis Warns of World War III Fought Piecemeal, with Crimes, Massacres, Destruction



Pope Francis prays at the gravestones of an Austro-Hungarian cemetery in Fogliano di Redipuglia, northern Italy, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Pope Francis will confront a piece of his own family history when he visits a World War I memorial Saturday built amid the battlefields where his grandfather fought in the brutal Italian offensive against the Austro-Hungarian empire, surviving to impress upon the future pope the horrors of war. Francis’ aim is by recalling those who died in the first World War that broke out 100 years ago is to honor the victims of all wars, and it comes at a time when his calls for peace have grown ever more urgent amid new threats. The pontiff will pray first among the neat rows of gravestones for fallen soldiers from five nations buried a tidy, enclosed Austro-Hungarian cemetery, then travel by car just a couple of hundred meters to Italy’s largest war memorial, a grandiose Fascist-era monument to 100,000 fallen Italian soldiers, for an open-air mass. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

“They are making a lot of saints these days. Even popes,” said Margherita Braga, 52, of Brescia, who was visiting the site with her Italian military veteran husband. “But for me, these are the real saints.”

Just two levels up from the altar where Francis stood, the name of a fallen soldier named Adolfo Bergoglio is engraved in a wall. Nardin, the local priest, said he is not believed to be related to the pope. But World War I historian, Col. Lorenzo Cadeddu, who has found two Bergoglios listed among the Italian casualties of World War I, said it remained a possibility.

“Bergoglio is not a common name,” Cadeddu said. “It is likely that they are related.”

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World War 3 began with ‘massacres,' warns Pope Francis (+Full Speech)

Tina BurgessSan Diego Top News Examiner

September 18, 2014

World War 3 is in the news headlines this week because Pope Francis and China have addressed the topic of a third world war in recent days. Professor Han Xudong from the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University (a Chinese military university) wrote recently in an editorial published by the state-run newspaper Global Times that nations are collectively involved in “an era of new forms of global war,” reported the Business Insider on Sep. 17.

Professor Han wrote that World War 3 is becoming more of a reality and that China needs to take action. According to Han, “previously undisputed territories, like outer space, the digital landscape and the oceans have become part of the international battlefield. The number of countries involved is unprecedented.”

On Saturday, Pope Francis was visiting the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery of Fogliano di Redipuglia in northeastern Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of WWI. While standing at the altar beneath the towering Redipuglia memorial entombing 100,000 Italian soldiers fallen in World War I, Pope Francis urged the world “to shed its apathy in the face of what he characterizes as a third world war.”

Unlike Professor Han, Pope Francis did not speak about outer space, digital technology or the oceans, but addressed the hot topic of the Middle East, Ukraine, and Russia. “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."

When speaking of World War 3 and what caused it, Pope Francis mentions the behind-the-scenes interests, geopolitical strategies, the lust for money and power, and the manufacture and sale of arms. Quite interestingly, Professor Han and Pope Francis appear to agree as to the cause of World War 3. “War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying. Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often justified by an ideology.” China knows all too well how important "ideology" is when it comes to achieving a government's goals.

For those who disagree with Pope Francis whether or not the world is already fighting a third world war, one has to look at how a world war is being defined. According to most dictionaries, a world war is defined as “a war involving many large nations in all different parts of the world.”

China is currently involved not only in a technological war with the west but also in disputes over sea rights with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Japan. The most symbolic victims of the war between western countries and the Ukraine/Russia conflict include the innocent adults and children of MH17. From the beheading of British citizens by ISIS to the killing of children along the beach at Gaza to the senseless mass murders in Africa – there is no doubt that the world is at war.

Has World War 3 already begun as Pope Francis points out? For those who are waiting for one nation to launch a nuclear attack in order to call it World War 3, it will most likely be the shortest world war ever. Even more interesting is the question – how will it end?

Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ speech given at the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery of Fogliano di Redipuglia:

“After experiencing the beauty of travelling throughout this region, where men and women work and raise their families, where children play and the elderly dream… I now find myself here, in this place, able to say only one thing: War is madness.

Whereas God carries forward the work of creation, and we men and women are called to participate in his work, war destroys. It also ruins the most beautiful work of his hands: human beings. War ruins everything, even the bonds between brothers. War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying.

Greed, intolerance, the lust for power…. These motives underlie the decision to go to war, and they are too often justified by an ideology; but first there is a distorted passion or impulse. Ideology is presented as a justification and when there is no ideology, there is the response of Cain: 'What does it matter to me? Am I my brother’s keeper?' (cf. Gen 4:9). War does not look directly at anyone, be they elderly, children, mothers, fathers…. 'What does it matter to me?'

Above the entrance to this cemetery, there hangs in the air those ironic words of war, 'What does it matter to me?' Each one of the dead buried here had their own plans, their own dreams… but their lives were cut short. Humanity said, 'What does it matter to me?'

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…

In all honesty, the front page of newspapers ought to carry the headline, 'What does it matter to me?' Cain would say, 'Am I my brother’s keeper?'

This attitude is the exact opposite of what Jesus asks of us in the Gospel. We have heard: he is in the least of his brothers; he, the King, the Judge of the world, he is the one who hungers, who thirsts, he is the stranger, the one who is sick, the prisoner… The one who cares for his brother or sister enters into the joy of the Lord; the one who does not do so, however, who by his omissions says, 'What does it matter to me?,' remains excluded.

Here lie many victims. Today, we remember them. There are tears, there is sadness. From this place we remember all the victims of every war.

Today, too, the victims are many… How is this possible? It is so because in today’s world, behind the scenes, there are interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for money and power, and there is the manufacture and sale of arms, which seem to be so important!

And these plotters of terrorism, these schemers of conflicts, just like arms dealers, have engraved in their hearts, 'What does it matter to me?'

It is the task of the wise to recognize errors, to feel pain, to repent, to beg for pardon and to cry.

With this 'What does it matter to me?' in their hearts, the merchants of war perhaps have made a great deal of money, but their corrupted hearts have lost the capacity to cry. That 'What does it matter to me?' prevents the tears. Cain did not cry. The shadow of Cain hangs over us today in this cemetery. It is seen here. It is seen from 1914 right up to our own time. It is seen even in the present.

With the heart of a son, a brother, a father, I ask each of you, indeed for all of us, to have a conversion of heart: to move on from 'What does it matter to me?,' to tears: for each one of the fallen of this 'senseless massacre,' for all the victims of the mindless wars, in every age. Humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep.”