Pope Francis: "War is madness, we cannot resign ourselves"

2020-02-23T10:32:28.126Z

"The war, which directs resources to the purchase of weapons and military effort, diverting them from the vital functions of a society, such as support for families, health and education, is contrary to reason, according to the teaching of Saint John XXIII (cf Pacem in terris). In other words - said Francesco - it is madness, because it is crazy to destroy houses, bridges, factories, hospitals, kill people and destroy resources rather than build human and economic relationships. to which we can never resign. Never can war be exchanged for normality or accepted as an inevitable way to regulate divergences and opposing interests, never. The ultimate goal of every human society remains peace, so much so that it can be reiterated that there is no alternative to peace, for anyone '", the Pope said to the bishops of the Mediterranean, citing the conclusion of the dialogue with the heads of the Churches and Christian communities of the Middle East, in Bari, the 7 July 2018. There is no sensible alternative to peace, because every project of exploitation and supremacy embraces those who strike and those affected, and reveals a short-sighted conception of reality, given that it deprives not only the other of the future, but even themselves. "War appears as the failure of every human and divine project: it is enough to visit a landscape or a city, theaters of conflict, to realize how, due to hatred, the garden is transformed into a desolate and inhospitable land and the earthly paradise in hell ", underlined Francesco. Pope Francis is in Bari, in the Basilica of San Nicola, to close the meeting of the "Mediterranean frontier of peace" bishops promoted by the CEI. "We could call Bari the capital of unity". Pope Francis said at the beginning of his intervention in the Basilica of San Nicola. Then speaking off the cuff: "Today we are gathered here again, the first time of all the bishops of the Mediterranean". "I find it significant - he added - the choice to hold this meeting in the city of Bari, so important for the ties it has with the Middle East as with the African continent, an eloquent sign of how deeply rooted the relationships are between different peoples and traditions. Furthermore, the diocese of Bari has always kept the ecumenical and interreligious dialogue alive, working tirelessly to establish bonds of mutual esteem and brotherhood ". "Today the Mediterranean area is threatened by many outbreaks of instability and war, both in the Middle East and in various North African states, as well as between different ethnic groups or religious and confessional groups; nor can we forget the still unsolved conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, with the danger of unfair solutions and, therefore, harbingers of new crises ".