Pope Francis on arms trade: 'Terrible to make money from death'

ROME — Pope Francis on Wednesday denounced the global arms industry, saying it was "terrible to make money from death."

"Unfortunately, today the investments that bring the greatest return are arms factories," he said in his weekly general audience in the Vatican.

Francis used the speech to appeal for peace, mentioning the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar by government forces.

According to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research International, a record $2.44 trillion was spent on armaments worldwide last year, a 6.8 per cent rise from 2022.

Russia's war in Ukraine was cited as one of the key reasons for the global increase in defence spending.

The US has the highest military expenditure in the world by some distance, representing 37 per cent of total global spending.