ROME — Pope Francis denounced terrorism Monday as a “serious scourge of our time,” while highlighting the root cause of religious extremism.
Every year, terrorism “kills numerous victims among defenseless civilians throughout the world,” the pope told members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See.
“Terrorism is an evil that has been growing since the seventies of the last century, culminating in the attacks that took place in the United States of America on 11 September 2001 that killed nearly three thousand people,” the pontiff noted.
“Tragically, the number of terrorist attacks has intensified in the last twenty years, affecting various countries on every continent,” he added. “I think of terrorist attacks above all in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Asia and Europe.”
Although Francis has insisted that “Muslim terrorism does not exist,” he acknowledged Monday that a significant portion of global terror attacks are perpetrated by religious extremists.
“My thoughts turn to all the victims and their families, who have lost their loved ones to blind violence motivated by ideological distortions of religion,” he stated. “For that matter, the targets of these attacks are often precisely places of worship where believers are gathered in prayer.”
“In this regard, I would like to stress that the protection of places of worship is a direct consequence of the defence of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and is a duty incumbent upon the civil authorities, regardless of their political persuasion or religious affiliation,” he declared.
According to the World Watch List 2021, released last month by Open Doors, Islamic extremism is the primary driver of Christian persecution in many countries around the world, including Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and many others.
According to the Watch List, of the 50 countries where Christian persecution is highest, 35 have a Muslim majority. The list names “Islamic oppression” as the principal driver of persecution in more than half (28) of the top 50 countries.
Moreover, the “extreme persecution” suffered by Christians in 10 of the 12 worst nations comes from “Islamic oppression” or is occurring in Muslim majority nations.
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