“This is not human,” Pope Francis said after a night of terror in Paris left more than 120 people dead and more than 200 people injured, The Catholic News Service reports.
As French authorities investigated the almost simultaneous attacks Nov. 13 on at least six different sites — inside a concert hall, outside a soccer stadium, and at four cafes and restaurants — Pope Francis spoke briefly Nov. 14 with the television station of the Italian bishops’ conference.
“I am shaken and pained,” the pope said. “I don’t understand, but these things are difficult to understand, how human beings can do this. That is why I am shaken, pained and am praying.”
The director of the television station recalled how the pope has spoken many times about a “third world war being fought in pieces.”
“This is a piece,” the pope responded. “There are no justifications for these things.”
On social media, Islamic State militants claimed responsibility, but Pope Francis insisted there can be no “religious or human” excuse for killing innocent people and sowing terror. “This is not human.”
