The useless slaughter. Yesterday as today

On a day that received much media attention, Pope Francis gathered in silent prayer at the tomb of Benedict XV. It is not the first time and, I believe, it will not be the last. The two times he came down to the basilica, surprising public opinion with a thoughtful choice, he wanted silence to speak.

The Pontiff, who has always distinguished himself by his ability to renounce the usual trappings of power, appeared in the basilica in a rather unusual manner, wearing a poncho that made some people turn up their noses. A choice, however, in line with his pontificate which, from day one, has revealed the intention to emphasise how the witness to the Gospel message must go far beyond ornaments and outward appearances. A choice that represents the will to embrace a modernity made of simplicity and closeness to people's needs.

As was already the case on his first visit to Assisi, when at the Altar of Spoliation the Pontiff loudly raised his denunciation of an unjust society, which 'strips' so many human beings of their dignity. He called for a Church capable of stripping itself of worldliness to live by the Gospel. A gesture also addressed to the powerful so that they would know how to live politics at the service of man. But I would like to dwell on the remembrance of Benedict XV, which takes on a disruptive significance. During the Great War, the pontiff tried to mediate between the warring powers, inviting the protagonists of history to put aside the blood shed in the name of pride and rivalry.

In his Apostolic Exhortation When We Were Called (18 July 1915), addressing himself 'To the belligerent peoples and their rulers', he wrote words that cannot but recall our present situation: 'In the holy name of God (...) we implore you, whom Divine Providence has placed in charge of the belligerent nations, to put an end at last to this horrendous carnage, which has been dishonouring Europe for a year now. It is fraternal blood that is being shed on earth and on the seas! The most beautiful regions of Europe, of this garden of the world, are sown with corpses and ruins: where just now the industrious work of the workshops and the fruitful labour of the fields flourished, now the cannon thunders fearfully, and in its demolishing fury it spares neither villages nor towns, but sows slaughter and death everywhere. You bear before God and before men the tremendous responsibility for peace and war; hear Our prayer.

Pope Benedict XV's exhortation thus seems to be revived in the silent prayer of Pope Francis. Horrendous carnage, useless slaughter: not a day passes of this Jubilee that the Holy Father does not call in private and public meetings for responsibility and peace. But never before has silence, full of intensity and reflection, been so chosen as an instrument of denunciation and prayer. The moment, accompanied by a solemn atmosphere of recollection, took on a universal message: war is incompatible with the divine plan of peace and fraternity. The memory of Benedict XV is thus united with the present, becoming a beacon of hope and renewed faith in humanity's ability to overcome hatred and division.