According to Pope Francis, a third world war is about to break out.
Yesterday, at the conclusion of his weekly audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis addressed a group of Polish-speaking pilgrims, urging them to pray “in a specific manner” for the people of Ukraine.
“You will remember the anniversary of the start of the Second World War, which scarred the Polish people so severely,” he remarked.
“The third is happening right now.”
“May the recollection of previous events encourage you to foster peace in oneself, in families, in social and international life.”
Francis has regularly spoken of an impending world battle and said that mankind is rushing toward WWIII as if it is “unavoidable” in April.
It occurs at the same time as the Vatican moves to defend Francis against claims that he has not reacted harshly enough to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the church, the pope has made it plain that he thinks the conflict started by Moscow is “senseless, repulsive, and sacrilegious.”
The senior papal ambassador was summoned last week after complaints from Ukraine on recent remarks made by Francis.
Francis had called a national Russian TV analyst who was murdered by a car bomb in Moscow a “sad girl” at a Vatican audience the day before.
Francis was referring to Darya Dugina, the war-hardened daughter of right-wing Russian political thinker Alexander Dugin.
The explosion was allegedly carried out by Ukrainian intelligence, which Kiev has denied.
Francis said that orphans in Russia and Ukraine were among the “innocents” who were victims of the “insanity of war.”
Last Monday, Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, summoned the Vatican’s envoy to Kyiv and told reporters that “the Pope’s comments have broken the Ukrainian heart apart.”
The Vatican said in a statement that “public debates have recently emerged concerning the political relevance to attach” to Francis’ remarks.
The Vatican said that the statements of the Holy Father should not be seen as a political stance but rather as a voice raised in defence of human life and the ideals associated with it.
As for the large-scale conflict in Ukraine that the Russian Federation started, the Holy Father’s interventions are categorical in their condemnation of it as morally wrong, intolerable, cruel, pointless, odious, and sacrilegious.
The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church cancelled a meeting with the Pope that was set to take place in September on the same day that Ukraine denounced his comments.
Although Francis, an 85-year-old pope with mobility limitations, has said he would want to visit Ukraine if it helped further the cause of peace, logistical challenges have rendered the trip unfeasible.