Pope: World is at War, But it's Not a War of Religions

Speaking to reporters aboard a plane in route to Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day, Pope Francis said, "The word that is being repeated often is insecurity, but the real word is war," the Holy Father continued, "Let's recognize it. The world is in a state of war in bits and pieces," explaining that the attacks could be seen as another world war.

In his remarks, Francis clarified that he was not referring to a war of religion, "Now there is this one war. It is perhaps not organic but it is organized and it is war," he said. "We should not be afraid to speak this truth. The world is at war because it has lost peace."

Pope Francis decried the martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel, the French priest murdered by Islamist militants on Tuesday, calling him, "a saintly priest". He added that Fr. Hamel was one of many innocent victims. "This holy priest who died precisely in the moment in which he offered prayers for the entire Church is one, but there are many Christians, many innocent people, many children," who suffer the same type of violence and hatred.

The pontiff’s statements echo his sentiments in the wake of the Paris attack last November when he asserted such violence constituted a third world war, saying, "There are no justifications for these things. There is no religious or human rational for this. This is not human."