Pope criticizes use of ‘mother’ to describe bomb

by Rebecca Savransky - 05/06/17 1:52 PM ET

Pope Francis on Saturday suggested the word “mother” should not be used to characterize a deadly weapon, Reuters reported.

“I was ashamed when I heard the name,” Pope Francis told an audience of students Saturday, referring to the U.S. military’s biggest non-nuclear explosive, a Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb referred to as “the mother of all bombs.”

“A mother gives life and this one gives death, and we call this device a mother. What is happening?” the pontiff asked.

{mosads}The U.S. military in April dropped the GBU-43B bomb on a tunnel complex in Afghanistan used by ISIS fighters.

The strike was the fist time the U.S. used its “mother of all bombs” in combat. It reportedly killed at least 94 ISIS fighters.

Last week, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command defended the decision to drop the Pentagon’s largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan.

“I think it was the right employment of a weapon system … to avoid the more extensive loss of life,” Gen. Raymond Thomas said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The pope in the past has offered veiled criticism of the president’s stances on immigration and refugees. The pope is scheduled to meet with Trump later this month.

Tags Pope Francis