Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis this morning condemned religious fundamentalism, saying ‘deviant forms of religion’ lead to atrocities such as last week’s attacks in France (above) and the strife in the Middle East, and said terrorists use God only as a pretext for their crimes.

At his annual speech to diplomats accredited with the Holy See, the Pope said that ‘Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext.’

Among the acts carried out by religious fundamentalists, the Pope mentioned the ‘tragic slayings’ in Paris last week, and persecution of minorities, including Christians, in Iraq and Syria.

He also called on Muslim leaders to denounce an ‘extremist interpretation’ of their religion that attempts to justify acts of violence, and asked the international community to denounce fundamentalism.

“I express my hope that religious, political and intellectual leaders, especially those of the Muslim community, will condemn all fundamentalist and extremist interpretations of religion which attempt to justify such acts of violence,” the Pope said,

The Pope added that extremist mentalities had caused a ‘true world war fought piecemeal,’ a point her first raised late last year.

“They affect, albeit in different forms and degrees of intensity, a number of areas in our world, beginning with nearby Ukraine, which has become a dramatic theatre of combat,” he said. “It is my hope that through dialogue the efforts presently being made to end the hostilities will be consolidated, and that the parties involved will embark as quickly as possible, in a renewed spirit of respect for international law, upon the path of mutual trust and fraternal reconciliation, with the aim of bringing an end to the present crisis.”

He went on to express his profound sympathies to the Christian communities of the Middle East saying that their extinction would leave the region ‘mutilated.’

“Here, in your presence, I appeal to the entire international community, as I do to the respective governments involved, to take concrete steps to bring about peace and to protect all those who are victims of war and persecution, driven from their homes and their homeland,” he said. “In a letter written shortly before Christmas, I sought to express my personal closeness and the promise of my prayers to all the Christian communities of the Middle East. Theirs is a precious testimony of faith and courage, for they play a fundamental role as artisans of peace, reconciliation and development in the civil societies of which they are a part. A Middle East without Christians would be a marred and mutilated Middle East!”

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