Pope Francis: The world has not understood the way of peace

Celebrating mass on Thursday at the chapel of his Santa Marta residence, the Pope said “the whole world is at war,” and the rejection of the “path of peace” means that God Himself, that Jesus Himself, weeps because we have chosen the way of war, the way of hatred.” This was the message of Pope Francis to the faithful taken from the Gospel of St. Luke the Evangelist.
“Today Jesus weeps as well: because we have chosen the way of war, the way of hatred, the way of enmities. We are close to Christmas the Pope said. “There will be lights, there will be parties, bright trees, even Nativity scenes – all decked out – while the world continues to wage war. The world has not understood the way of peace.”
Jesus approaches Jerusalem, and seeing the city on a hill from a distance, weeps, and says, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Pope Francis repeated the words of Our Lord to the Holy City, and then added:
“What shall remain? Ruins, thousands of children without education, so many innocent victims: and lots of money in the pockets of arms dealers. Jesus once said: ‘You can not serve two masters: either God or riches.’ War is the right choice for him, who would serve wealth: ‘Let us build weapons, so that the economy will right itself somewhat, and let us go forward in pursuit of our interests. There is an ugly word the Lord spoke: ‘Cursed!’ Because He said: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!.’ The men who work war, who make war, are cursed, they are criminals. A war can be justified – so to speak – with many, many reasons, but when all the world as it is today, at war – piecemeal though that war may be – a little here, a little there, and everywhere – there is no justification – and God weeps. Jesus weeps.”
.The pontiff called those who fuel today’s conflicts “criminals” and “cursed.”
Pope Francis went on to reflect on the ceremonial remembrance of the Second World War, making reference to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. During his visit to Redipuglia last year on the anniversary of the Great War, Pope Francis called it a “Useless Slaughter”, repeating the words of Pope Benedict XV he said, “Everywhere there is war today, there is hatred, “What shall remain in the wake of this war, in the midst of which we are living now?”
“We have to stop this kind of genocide,” said Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative in Geneva. “Otherwise we’ll be crying out in the future about why we didn’t so something, why we allowed such a terrible tragedy to happen.”