Pope Francis has urged Muslim leaders around the world to condemn terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. Speaking on board a flight back to Rome, the Pope said that he understood the harm caused by the stereotype that linked Islam with terrorism.
He said a “global condemnation” of the violence would help the majority of Muslims dispel this stereotype.
Pope Francis was returning from a three-day visit to Turkey, where he discussed divisions between faiths.
The pontiff denounced people who say that “all Muslims are terrorists”.
“As we cannot say that all Christians are fundamentalists,” he said.
In Istanbul, Pope Francis called for an end to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
In a joint declaration, the Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew I said they could not resign themselves to a “Middle East without Christians”.