Pope Francis called for an end Thursday to what he said was the "genocide" of Christians taking place in the Middle East and beyond.

"Today we are dismayed to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus," he said in Bolivia, part of a three-nation tour to his native South America.

"In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end."