Pope Francis declares the sale of weapons the 'biggest plague in the world'

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Pope Francis declares the sale of weapons the 'biggest plague in the world'

Pope Francis has declared the sale of weapons to be the 'biggest plague in the world'.

He made the comment while speaking to reporters on a flight home to Rome from South Sudan alongside Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Right Reverend Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The visit was part of an unusual 'Pilgrimage of Peace' in Africa by Christian religious leaders to nudge forward the country's recovery from civil war.

The Pope said on Sunday: 'Violence is an everyday theme. We have just seen it in South Sudan. It is painful to see how violence is provoked.

'One of the issues is the sale of weapons. The sale of arms: I think this is the biggest plagues in the world.' Said he had been told that if all sales of weapons stopped for a year, world hunger could come to an end.