Pope Francis seems to get himself in trouble during press conferences held aboard papal flights. It’s happened before, when he attacked Donald Trump — and now it’s happened again.
On his way back from Poland for World Youth Day on Sunday, the pope was asked by a reporter whether Islam should be identified with violence. The pope said no — in contrast to ISIS, he said, which he believes is a fundamentalist sect of the religion.
“In pretty much every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists,” said the pope.
“I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence,” the pope said during his flight, Catholic News Agency and other outlets reported. “This is not right and it is not true.”
He added, “I don’t like to speak about Islamic violence. If I speak of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence.”
He said every religion, including Catholicism, has its fundamentalist groups.
“I believe that in pretty much every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. When fundamentalism comes to kill, it can kill with the language — the Apostle James says this, not me — and even with a knife, no?”
In the most recent case of Islamic militant violence, Fr. Jacques Hamel, a French Catholic priest, was murdered last Tuesday during Mass by two gunmen who stormed a church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by two 19-year-olds. The priest was in his 80s and was in the middle of celebrating the Eucharist in church. The pope denounced that attack.
Related: ISIS Kills Christians for Being Christian
Acknowledging fundamentalist groups, however, the pope stressed there are many young people, including Europeans, who are “empty of ideals, who have no work,” and who turn to drugs and alcohol and “enlist in fundamentalist groups.”
“One can speak of the so-called ISIS,” the pope added, “but it is an Islamic state which presents itself as violence.” The group thus shows its “identity card,” he said, referring to the group of Egyptians whose throats were slit on the coast of Libya.
“This is a small fundamentalist group called ISIS,” he said. But “I do not believe it is true or correct that Islam is terrorist.”
“Terrorism is everywhere. You think of tribal terrorism of some African countries,” he said. “Terrorism grows when there are no other options, and when the center of the global economy is a god of money and not the person — men and women — this is already the first terrorism!”
He added, “You have cast out the wonder of creation — man and woman — and you have put money in its place. This is a basic terrorism against all of humanity! Think about it!”
The comments came at the end of Francis’ trip to Poland for World Youth Day, which was moderately contentious as well — many Polish bishops stand openly against the pope’s views, particularly his open-arms stance on refugees. Pope Francis did not avoid that topic, either, during his visit.
Francis called for “a spirit of readiness to welcome those fleeing from wars and hunger,” and challenged the Polish people to stand in “solidarity with those deprived of their fundamental rights, including the right to profess one’s faith in freedom and safety.”
He also mentioned that the issue “calls for great wisdom and compassion, in order to overcome fear and to achieve the greater good.”
Francis spoke of the throngs who have left Poland: “There is a need to seek out the reasons for emigration from Poland and to facilitate the return of all those wishing to repatriate.”
At a time when many people across the globe worry about the presence of terrorists among the vast numbers of refugees who continue to stream across Europe — and the havoc they can cause — Francis has accepted a number of refugees into the Vatican and has called on the largely Catholic Poland to do the same.
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“This means doing everything possible to alleviate the suffering while tirelessly working with wisdom and constancy for justice and peace, bearing witness in practice to human and Christian values,” said Francis.
Poland is one of the least welcoming countries to refugees in all of Europe — a political decision widely supported by its people.
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