Pope says equating Islam with violence is wrong as he calls on religion's leaders to issue global condemnation of terrorism.
Pope Francis
said last night that equating Islam with violence was wrong and called
on Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help
dispel the stereotype.
He
told reporters aboard his plane returning from a visit to Turkey that
he understood why Muslims were offended by many in the West who
automatically equated their religion with terrorism.
Francis's
predecessor, Benedict XVI, caused storms of protest throughout the
Islamic world in 2006, when he made a speech that suggested to many
Muslims that he believed Islam espoused violence.
High-level
press conference: The Pope told reporters aboard his plane yesterday
that he understood why Muslims were offended by many in the West who
automatically equated their religion with terrorism
Statement: Pope Francis told reporters aboard his plane last night that equating Islam with violence was wrong
Benedict
said he had been misunderstood and apologised. But this year, the image
of a violent religion has once more been promoted by Islamic State.
The
terrorist organisation has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq,
slaughtering or driving out Shi'ite Muslims, Christians and others who
do not share their radical brand of Sunni Islam.
The
Argentine pope has been trying to foster cooperation with moderate Islam
in order to work for peace and protect Christians in the Middle East.
Francis,
the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, insisted that it was wrong
for anyone to react to terrorism by being ‘enraged’ against Islam.
Greetings: Pope Francis meets with Iraqi refugees in Istanbul yesterday as part of his three-day visit to Turkey
Iraqi orphan: Pope Francis several times condemned Islamic State's insurgents during his three-day trip
He
said: ‘You just can't say that, just as you can't say that all
Christians are fundamentalists. We have our share of them
(fundamentalists).
It
would be beautiful if all Islamic leaders would speak out clearly and
condemn this because this would help the majority of Muslim people
Pope Francis
‘All
religions have these little groups. They (Muslims) say: “No, we are not
this, the Koran is a book of peace, it is a prophetic book of peace”.’
Francis
said he had made the suggestion of a global condemnation of terrorism
by Islamic leaders in talks on Friday with Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan.
‘I
told the president that it would be beautiful if all Islamic leaders,
whether they are political, religious or academic leaders, would speak
out clearly and condemn this because this would help the majority of
Muslim people,’ he said.
Francis several times condemned IS’s insurgents during his three-day trip.
Goodbye: Pope Francis waves prior to boarding his plane at the end of a three-day visit in Turkey yesterday
Trip: The Pope visited Haghia Sofia, the Byzantine church-turned-mosque that is now a museum, on Saturday
On the plane, he said some Christians had been forced to abandon everything: ‘They are driving us out of the Middle East.’
They are driving us out of the Middle East
Pope Francis, on Islamic State
In
an address at a Mass yesterday, he said IS was committing a ‘profoundly
grave sin against God’ and called for inter-religious dialogue and
action against poverty to help end the conflicts in the region.
He added that ending poverty was crucial, partly because it gave rise to ‘the recruitment of terrorists’.
Francis
has in the past said that, while it is lawful for the international
community to use force to stop an ‘unjust aggressor’, lasting solutions
must be found that tackle the root causes of violence.
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