'Many powerful people don't want peace,' Pope tells children

© Reuters/Max Rossi
Pope Francis kisses a child during an audience with the boys and girls of the "Fabbrica della Pace" groups at the Vatican, May 11, 2015.

    

The "industry of death" exists in the world as many people in power live off war, Pope Francis told Italian schoolkids in the Vatican on Monday.

"Many powerful people don't want peace because they live off war," the Pontiff said as he met with pupils from Rome's primary schools in the Nervi Audience Hall.

Talking to children during the audience organized by the Peace Factory Foundation, he explained that every war has the arms industry behind it.

Some powerful people make their living with the production of arms and sell them to one country for them to use against another country," the Pope was cited by AGI news agency as saying.

The head of the Catholic Church labeled the arms trade

"The economic system orbits around money and not men, women," he told 7,000 kids present at the audience.

Despite the fact that wars "lose lives, health, education," they are being waged to defend money and make even more profit, the Pope said.

78-year-old Francis said.

the Pope said and asked the children to repeat those words out loud three times.

he said.

In his April Easter Address, the Pontiff urged to end "absurd" violence, bloodshed and persecution in hotspots around the world.

he told tens of thousands of pilgrims at St. Peter's Square in Vatican.

Francis also asked the Lord to and called for resuming the between Israelis and Palestinians