A WORLD AT WAR

Pope Francis speaks out about a world at war, and insists it is not a war of religions; but can religious strife be discounted?:-

Pope Francis: ‘The World Is At War’

In a brief address aboard the papal plane en route to Krakow for World Youth Day, Pope Francis expressed his conviction that the world is at war, but it is not a religious war, since every religion wants peace.

The Pope told journalists traveling with him that the world is not only insecure, it is at war. “But it’s a real war, not a religious war,” Francis said.

“It’s a war of interests, a war for money. A war for natural resources and for the dominion of the peoples. Some might say it’s a religious war. Every religion wants peace. The war is wanted by the others. Understood?” he said.

Of course the Pope is reluctant to admit that religious conflict is manifest, not only in the Middle East but also is other parts of the world. This is an obstacle in the way of the urgent quest of the papacy for ecumenical union.

Pope Francis: ‘The world is at war, but it is not a war of religions’

The world is at war, but it is not a war of religions, Pope Francis has said as he traveled to Poland on his first visit to Central and Eastern Europe in the shadow of the slaying of a priest in France.

The killing of an 85-year-old priest in a Normandy church on Tuesday added to security fears surrounding Francis’s five-day visit for the World Youth Day celebrations, which were already high due to a string of violent attacks in France and Germany. Polish officials say they have deployed tens of thousands of security officials to cover the event.

Francis spoke to reporters on the papal plane en route from Rome to Poland. Asked about the slaying of the priest, Francis replied: “It’s war, we don’t have to be afraid to say this.”

After greeting reporters on his papal plane he returned to the topic to clarify that when he speaks of war, he is speaking of “a war of interests, for money, resources. … I am not speaking of a war of religions. Religions don’t want war. The others want war.” . . .

Meanwhile, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, sent a message of condolence to Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen after the killing of Fr Hamel, Catholic News Service reports. The cardinal said Pope Francis was “particularly upset that this act of violence took place in a church during Mass, the liturgical act that implores God’s peace for the world.”

In the latest event of violence, the cardinal said, the Pope prayed God would “inspire in all thoughts of reconciliation and brotherhood.”

Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, was another church leader in Krakow for World Youth Day. He told Catholic News Service the attack in France reminded him of the 2010 massacred in Baghdad’s Church of Our Lady of Deliverance “when they held the people inside the church” during Sunday evening Mass “and killed two priests and then started killing the rest.” A total of 48 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.

“This is the sort of world we are living in,” Archbishop Warda said. “We pray for the priest and everyone who was shocked and horrified.”

At the same time, “we pray for all of ISIS so they could really wake up and know the God of mercy,” he said. “We know that it is going to be harder and harder because the more you push them, they come up with more terrifying stories and events.”

“It’s shocking, it’s sad, really sad” to know they could “enter a church, a place of prayer” and commit such violence, the archbishop said. “Imagine you enter a mosque and start killing people — but that’s ISIS. That’s the way they act. Unfortunately this is the way they’ve been trained.”

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed gratitude for “the unforgettable witness of the faithful” in the church attack.

The total context of the Pope's statements suggests that he made a candid acknowledgement at first that the world is indeed in a religious war; but then on reflection found it necessary to tone this down in the interest of ecumenical union of denominations and religions. Nevertheless, Jidahist attacks in Europe are central in all the reports of the Pope's statements:

Pope Francis warns world 'is at war' after Europe attacks

Pope Francis has warned that a recent wave of jihadist attacks in Europe is proof that "the world is at war".

However, he stressed he did not mean a war of religions, but rather a conflict over "interests, money, resources".

He was speaking ahead of his visit to Poland to reporters seeking his comments on the murder of a Catholic priest by French jihadists on Tuesday.

Father Jacques Hamel was killed at a morning mass in his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France.

The killing was the latest of a spate of attacks carried out in France and Germany over the past few days and weeks, many of them attributed to Islamist militants.

"The word we hear a lot is insecurity, but the real word is war," the pontiff said.

"We must not be afraid to say the truth, the world is at war because it has lost peace.

"When I speak of war I speak of wars over interests, money, resources, not religion. All religions want peace, it's the others who want war," Pope Francis added. . .

In Krakow, the Pope met Polish President Andrzej Duda in the Wawel Castle before retiring for a closed question-and-answer session with the country's bishops in the city's cathedral.

Much of Poland's conservative Catholic establishment is uncomfortable with Pope Francis's push for a more flexible and compassionate church.

Growing anti-Muslim sentiment is clearly a factor in the Pope's denial that the jidahist conflict is a religious war:

Pope Francis Says World Is at War, but It’s Not a Religious Conflict

As he began his first official visit to Poland, Pope Francis on Wednesday said “the world is at war,” and he challenged the conservative governments of Central and Eastern Europe to soften their resistance to migrants seeking refuge.

The pope’s visit to the southern Polish city of Krakow to celebrate World Youth Day, a major event on the Roman Catholic calendar, began just a day after the horrific killing of a priest in France.

The priest, the Rev. Jacques Hamel, 85, was celebrating Mass in a small town in Normandy when two men with knives entered the church and slit his throat. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Francis, 79, was clearly shaken by the attack, and he appeared solemn and pensive as he headed to Poland, the first stop on a trip to Central and Eastern Europe.

“The world is at war,” he told reporters on his plane from Rome to Krakow. “We don’t need to be afraid to say this.”

But with anti-Muslim sentiment growing after the recent Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks in France and Germany, Pope Francis emphasized that he did not see a religious conflict. “I am not speaking of a war of religions,” he said. “Religions don’t want war. The others want war.”

He said he was referring to “a war of interests” and a war for money, resources and the “domination of peoples.”

Three days before the pope’s arrival in Poland, the Vatican issued a statement reprimanding Polish officials who “artificially created fear of Muslims.”

Now, does all of this have special prophetic significance. In one respect, definitely. The signs are difficult to read in another respect; but watchfulness may be appropriate (Note that the physical war against ISIS is now expanded to include Libya, once a part of the Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt.) In the context of Dan. 11:40-44 the "King of the South" makes the first move against "the King." If there is possible validity in regarding references to the "King of the South' and the "King of the North" as identifying locations rather than nations, is it worthy of consideration that the ideology of al-Qaeda originated in Egypt, and influential leaders such as Ayman al-Zawahiri are Egyptian? Is it possible that Dan. 11:40-44 is being fulfilled by al-Qaeda and ISIS, unnoticed?