Pope Francis has never shied away from weighing in on political discussions. He’s made strong comments on topics from climate change to the refugee crisis to women’s rights.
His messages are sometimes shrouded in metaphor, and other times direct.
On Thursday, Francis spoke out about a topic very closely related to the fight to end extreme poverty: war.
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“The world once more is at war and is preparing to go even more forcefully into war,” Francis said at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy, according to the Reuters.
Each year, Roman Catholics commemorate the dead on Nov. 2. But Francis also used this moment as an opportunity to go off-script and speak of preventing further atrocities.
His comments come just days before US President Donald Trump is due to visit Asia in the midst of a war of words with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, leading some to speculate the comments were aimed at the two leaders.
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Francis added that “humanity must not forget” the mothers and wives who have lost loved ones in past battles.
“Humanity has not learned the lesson and seems that it does not want to learn it,” he said.
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Wars and conflict prevent societies from being able to achieve sustainable development — often cutting off access to healthcare, education, and resources like water and sanitation. The World Bank has estimated that conflicts are the root cause of 80% of the world’s humanitarian need and cause national economies to contract by 2% each year, on average, pushing many further into poverty.
Francis instead called for peace.
“Please Lord, stop. No more wars. No more of these useless massacres,” he said.