Pope Francis urged political and religious leaders to do more to stop the rise of “fundamentalist terrorism” that he said had caused “homicidal madness” throughout the world.

In an address to the Vatican diplomatic corps on Monday (Jan. 9), the pope said religion was being used as a pretext for the “rejection, marginalization, and violence” that had inspired fundamentalist attacks in the U.S., France, Germany, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, and other countries in the past year.

“Fundamentalist terrorism is the fruit of a profound spiritual poverty and is often linked to significant social poverty. It can only be fully defeated with the joint contribution of religious and political leaders.”

“We are dealing with a homicidal madness which misuses God’s name in order to disseminate death, in a play for domination and power,” Francis said in his annual New Year message to representatives from more than 180 countries.

“Fundamentalist terrorism is the fruit of a profound spiritual poverty and is often linked to significant social poverty. It can only be fully defeated with the joint contribution of religious and political leaders.”

In the speech, which is effectively a “State of the World” view from the Vatican, he also reiterated his call to ban nuclear weapons, saying experiments by North Korea to build long-range missiles risked setting off a new nuclear arms race.

The Argentine pontiff cited several countries where terrorists inspired by fundamentalist beliefs had left a trail of destruction and numerous victims.

“These are vile acts that use children to kill, as in Nigeria, or target people at prayer, as in the Coptic Cathedral of Cairo, or travelers or workers, as in Brussels, or passers-by in the streets of cities like Nice and Berlin or simply people celebrating the arrival of the new year, as in Istanbul.”

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While acknowledging the need for governments to be prudent, the pontiff also appealed to political leaders not to close their doors to migrants in need of protection.

“The current crisis should not be reduced to a simple matter of numbers,” he said. “Migrants are people with their own names, stories, and families.”

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He added the “humanitarian burden” should be shared and he thanked Italy, Germany, Greece, and Sweden for their response in welcoming those in need.

The pope’s message called for peace in many of the world’s trouble spots, particularly Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and appealed for fresh dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. “Peace is a gift, a challenge, and a commitment,” Francis said.

The Vatican has diplomatic relations with 182 countries and 88 have embassies in Rome, the Vatican said.

This article originally appeared in Religious News Service.