Pope tells Luxembourg audience: 'War is always a failure'

Pope Francis on Thursday lamented the emergence of new "rifts and enmities" in Europe, during a visit to Luxembourg, the second smallest country in the European Union.

The 87-year-old pontiff called on politicians to act and show "a willingness to find honest compromises." He said new conflicts can have "destructive and deadly consequences."

"We must not forget that war is always a failure," the pope said.

Luxembourg can show "the advantages of peace over the horrors of war and the advantages of integrating and promoting migrants over marginalizing them."

The size or population of a country does not determine its important role on the continent, he added.

Luxembourg has a population of around 650,000, of whom just over 40% are Catholic. Almost half the residents in the country are foreigners. Only Malta has a smaller population among the 27 EU nations.

Thousands of people braved the rainy weather to line the streets to cheer the head of the Catholic Church as he rode by in his popemobile along with Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich.

After the approximately 2 kilometre tour, he arrived at the Bishop's House, where he shook hands and distributed sweets to children.

There was an incident on the route when a woman stormed towards the popemobile with a placard reading "Bullfighting is a sin." Security guards immediately dragged her away.

In the morning, the pope met with Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa at the Grand Ducal Palace. Pope Francis is the second pope to visit Luxembourg, after John Paul II in 1985.

The Argentinian-born pope travelled on to Belgium on Thursday evening and will stay there until Sunday, visiting the cities of Brussels, Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve.

He was welcomed in the pouring rain at the Brussels airport by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.

The pontiff will mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic University of Leuven, founded in 1425. He will also say mass at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

The pope is scheduled to meet with a group of victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church in Belgium.

Pope Francis is pressing on with the trip despite cancelling all appointments on Monday due an illness. The Vatican said he had suffered from a "mild flu."

The pope has had to cancel appointments multiple times in recent months due to his health. However, he successfully completed a 12-day trip to Asia and the Pacific in the first half of September.

Pope Francis turns 88 in December. He is the oldest pope in more than a century.