Pope Francis:
'Great Powers' Did Nothing When Jews Were Taken To Auschwitz
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday denounced what he calls the "great powers" of the world for failing to act when there was intelligence indicating Jews, Christians, homosexuals and others were being transported to death camps in Europe during World War II.
He also decried the deaths of Christians in concentration camps in Russia under the Stalin dictatorship, which followed the war.
The pope's harsh assessments came in impromptu remarks during his visit to Turin, northern Italy, when he told young people he understands how they find it hard to trust the world.
"The great powers had photographs of the railway routes that the trains took to the concentration camps, like Auschwitz, to kill the Jews, and also the Christians, and also the Roma, also the homosexuals," Francis said, citing the death camp in Poland. "Tell me, why didn't they bomb" those railroad routes?
Referring to concentration camps that came "a little later" in Russia, Francis wondered aloud: "How many Christians suffered, were killed" there?
Lamenting the cynicism of world players in the 1930s and 1940s, Francis said: "the great powers divided up Europe like a cake."
He also cited what he called the "great tragedy of Armenia" in the last century. "So many died. I don't know the figure, more than a million, certainly. But where were the great powers then? They were looking the other way," the pope said.
In April, the pope angered Turkey when he referred to the slaughter of Armenians by Turkish Ottomans as "genocide."
In today's world, he told the young people: "Everything is done for money." He criticized those advocating peace while manufacturing or selling arms.
Francis reiterated his view that conflicts in the world today are tantamount to "a Third World War in segments."
VOCABULARY:
GREAT POWERS - A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power influence, which may cause middle or small powers to consider the great powers' opinions before taking actions of their own.
1. Jews - members of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to Abraham.
2. harsh - cruel or severe.
3. cynicism - an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest skepticism.
4. slaughter - the killing of animals
5. tantamount - equivalent in seriousness to virtually the same as
DISCUSSION:
1. Have you known of the great powers before this article?
2. In your opinion, what are the good causes of the great powers?
3. How can being a great power lead to greed to misuse of power?
4. What can you say about the popes statement: -conflicts in the world today are tantamount to "a Third World War" in segments-?
