The Pontiff, Pope Francis has said that Islam can not be equated with violence and warned that European nations were pushing its young ones into the hands of extremists.
“It’s not true and it’s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,” he told journalists on Sunday while aboard the papal plane.
“I don’t think it is right to equate Islam with violence”.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church defended his decision not to mention Islam when condemning the brutal jihadist murder of a Catholic priest in France.
“In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too.”
“If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics.”
“You can kill with the tongue as well as the knife,” he said, in reference to a rise in populist parties fuelling racism and xenophobia.
The Pope further said Europe should look closer to home, stressing that “terrorism… grows where the God of money is put first” and “where there are no other options”.
“How many of our European young have we left empty of ideals, with no work, so they turn to drugs, to alcohol, and sign up with fundamentalist groups?” he asked.
Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.
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