Speaking one day after the murder in Rouen of 86-year-old French priest Jacques Hamel, Pope Francis on Wednesday said "the world is at war". The pope was speaking on the papal plane on the way to Krakow, Poland, for this week's World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations.
Asked about the murder of Fr Hamel, killed by an alleged Islamic fundamentalist, the pope said: “The world is at war . . . this isn’t a war of religion . . . People keep talking about security but the real word is war. The world is at war, a piecemeal war. There was the war of 1914, with its methods, and there was the 1939-1945 war and now there is this war . . . It is maybe not organic but it is certainly organised – this is war.
“This holy priest, killed even as he was offering up prayers for peace, he is just one person but how many Christians, how many innocents, how many children? Just think of Nigeria for example. People will just say ‘that’s Africa’, but that’s war. We’re not afraid to spell out this truth, the world is at war because it has lost the peace.”
The pope’s dramatic statement contrasts sharply with the joyous and celebratory spirit which traditionally marks the gathering of young people from all around the world. There is, too, an element of “coming home” about this World Youth Day in that it takes place in Krakow, a city where the late St John Paul II, the man who essentially invented the WYD back in 1987, served as bishop and cardinal.
Historical memory
Later, when he was received by the Polish president,
Andrzej Duda
, in Wavel Castle, the former home of royal families, Pope Francis made reference to his predecessor, saying he was happy to make his first visit to eastern Europe in Poland, home of John Paul II, “the originator and promoter of World Youth Days”.
Pope Francis expressed his admiration for the way in which the “noble” Polish nation had learned to cope with its historical memory, recovering from Nazi occupation and decades of East Bloc communist rule, saying:
“After the storms and dark times, your people, having regained its dignity, could say, like the Jews returning from Babylon, ‘We were like those who dream . . . our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy.’”
However, in what was perhaps a critical reference to recent Polish governments’ sometimes less than enthusiastic response to “migration issues”, the Pope called on Poland to show “constant ethical commitment”.
“There is a need to seek out the reasons for emigration from Poland and to facilitate the return of all those wishing to repatriate. Also needed is a spirit of readiness to welcome those fleeing from wars and hunger, and solidarity with those deprived of fundamental human rights, including the right to profess one’s faith in freedom and safety . . . ”
The pope’s four-day stay ends on Sunday. On Thursday he celebrates the 1050th anniversary of Christianity in Poland at the Marian shrine of Jasna Gora, and on Friday he visits the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, near Krakow.