Pope says equating Islam with violence is wrong

By Julio Severo

According to Reuters, Pope Francis said on Sunday that equating Islam with violence is wrong.

Pope and Turkish mufti

Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, told reporters aboard his plane returning from a visit to Turkey that it was wrong for anyone to react to terrorism by being enraged against Islam.

Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, caused, according to Reuters, storms of protest throughout the Islamic world in 2006, when he made a speech that suggested Islam espouses violence.

Benedict said he had been misunderstood and apologized.

The Argentine pope has been trying to foster cooperation with ‘moderate’ Islam in order to work for peace. He said that ending poverty was crucial, because he thinks that poverty gives rise to “the recruitment of terrorists.”

In his visit to Turkey, Francis told the mufti twice that Christians and Muslims must ‘adore’ God.

While he was rebuking those who equate Islam with violence and fostering cooperation with ‘moderate’ Islam, it seems that he does not know a famous statement by Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan: “The term ‘moderate Islam’ is ugly and offensive — Islam is Islam.”

It seems also that he does not know that recently Erdogan and his government held an Islamic summit for Latin America, a mostly Catholic region now under the Islamic radar of Turkey.

With information from Reuters, AP and Jihad Watch.

Portuguese version of this article: Papa diz que igualar islamismo com violência é errado

Source: Last Days Watchman

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