A horror, a defeat, an offense against God. This for the Pope is what war is, indeed, all the wars tearing apart the human family today: the one in Ukraine, exacerbated by harsh winter conditions; the one in Lebanon, from where there are glimmers of peace with the cease-fire; the one in Gaza, where the population is "exhausted", and now also the one in Syria - the latest piece of the "third world war in pieces" - plunged back into chaos in less than five days with the seizure of Aleppo by jihadist rebels and an already high number of dead and displaced people. On this first Sunday of Advent, Francis devotes ample space after the Marian Angelus prayer to listing emergency situations around the world. With his fists resting on the window ledge of the Apostolic Palace, at the microphone the Pope shouts all his repudiation of conflicts, of every kind and nature, and their consequences. "War is a horror, war offends God and humanity, war spares no one, war is always a defeat, a defeat for all humanity," the Pontiff said.