Local Editor
Irna – Just a few months after Pope Francis gave positive declarations about Islam and was supported as much as he was criticized, a short video has resurfaced of the Pope on the topic of Islam.
In the video, Argentinian-born Pope Francis speaks to reporters aboard an aircraft headed back to Rome from a three-day trip to Turkey.
At a time when extremist religious beliefs have negatively affected the world and generalized stereotypes are constantly creating controversy, Pope Francis conveys a simple but assertive message of peace by describing how terrorism has obscured positive views of Islam.
“On Islamophobia, it is true that when one sees these terrorist acts, not only in this region, but also in Africa, there is this reaction: ‘If this is Islam, I am going to get angry’, and so many Islamic people are offended”, he said in Italian, according to moroccoworldnews.com.
He goes on to reassure his remark and shares a reaction of the Muslim majority to these assumptions. “Many, many say: ‘No, we are not this, the Quran is a book of peace; it is a prophetic book of peace’. That [terrorism] is not Islam”, said the Pontiff.
There are millions of Islamic people in the world who follow the Quran and whose actions and lives are peaceful and disciplined. It is unfair to regard them as violent individuals and blame an entire religion for the terrorizing acts of extremists.
