On Sept. 13, Pope Francis spoke at a ceremony in northern Italy commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. He began by reminding us that “war is madness.”

He focused on the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain asks in Genesis 4:9: “What does it matter to me? Am I my brother’s keeper?”

He pointed out: “War ruins everything. … War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: It seeks to grow by destroying.”

Pope Francis went on to say, “It is the task of the wise to recognize errors, to feel pain, to repent, to beg for pardon and to cry. … In their hearts the merchants of war perhaps have made a great deal of money, but their corrupted hearts have lost the capacity to cry. That ‘What does it matter to me?’ prevents the tears.”

He ended by asking each of us “to have a conversion of heart, to move on from ‘What does it matter to me?’ to tears: for each one of the fallen, of this ‘senseless massacre,’ for all the victims of the mindless wars, in every age. Humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep.”

War is madness, and the continued production of warships at Bath Iron Works only perpetuates empire and is an ongoing crime against humanity. Instead, we must create a disarmed world through love and nonviolence in which we say: “It does matter to us.”

Together we can speak out in witness against the idolatry found in the building of these Aegis guided missile warships and the new Zumwalt destroyers and all they represent.

George and Maureen Kehoe-Ostensen

Hope

Copy the Story Link