Pope Francis warns of a World War III, 'with crimes, massacres, destruction'

Pope Francis visited Italy's Redipuglia memorial, which entombs 100,000 soldiers who died in World War I, this morning, and he used the visit to trace troubling lines between the Great War and still-ongoing violence around the world.

"Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war," he said. "One fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction…Humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep."

Francis' visit to the memorial held personal meaning, as the pope's grandfather, Giovanni Carlo Bergoglio, served as a radio operator for Italy from 1915 to 1917; he survived the war and passed on stories of the experience to his then-young grandson.

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