Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, has said that the sale of firearms is the “biggest plague in the world.”
He made the remark to reporters as they were flying from South Sudan back to Rome, along with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Right Reverend Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The trip was a part of an unusual “Pilgrimage of Peace” by Christian religious leaders through Africa to help the continent move past its civil war.
The Pope said on Sunday: “Violence is an everyday theme. We have just seen it in South Sudan. It is painful to see how violence is provoked.
“One of the issues is the sale of weapons. The sale of arms: I think this is the biggest plague in the world.’ Said he had been told that if all sales of weapons stopped for a year, world hunger could come to an end.
“At the top today is the selling of firearms. And not only among the great powers.
“Even to these poor people, they sow war with them. It’s cruel. They tell them “Go to war!” and they give them weapons. Because behind it there are economic interests to exploit the land, the minerals, and the wealth.
“This is to destroy: destroying creation, destroying the person, destroying society.”
Francis, Welby, and Greenshields brought attention to the situation of South Sudan’s most vulnerable citizens—the women and children who make up the majority of those residing in makeshift camps—during their three-day visit.
They specifically brought up the situation of women in a nation where child brides are a widespread, sexual assault against women is widespread, and the maternal death rate is the highest in the world.
The Pope continued as he spoke onboard the plane: “I don’t know if it happens in South Sudan but it does happen in some countries: young boys are recruited to be part of the militia and fight with other young boys.
“To sum up, I think the biggest problem is the eagerness to take that country’s wealth – coltan, lithium, these sorts of things? and through war, for which they sell weapons, they also exploit children.
“The whole war is at war and self-destruction – we must stop in time!”