Pope Francis urges other religious leaders and others to counter the hotbeds of fundamentalist violence by promoting opportunities for schooling and the fight against poverty
VATICAN CITY – Uncontrolled poverty and ignorance help fundamentalist violence take hold easily, Pope Francis said as he urged other religious leaders and others to counter the phenomenon by promoting schooling.
Francis called in a message at a four-day meeting that began Saturday evening in Bologna, Italy, with the goal of fostering understanding between religions.
“We must help each other to free the horizon of the sacred from the dark clouds of violence and fundamentalism,” Francis said in a message the Vatican said the pope wrote on Sept. 7.
The pope reported that some 5,000 people have been killed in places of worship around the world in the past 40 years. Francis called this an outbreak of violence “that exploits the sacred.”
“As religious leaders, I believe that first of all we must serve the truth and declare what it is even when it is bad, without fear or pretensions, even and especially when committed by those who profess to follow the same creed as us. , “Francis said.
The pontiff called for joining forces to “combat the religious illiteracy that pervades all cultures: it is widespread ignorance that reduces the experience of belief to slogans.”
Francis said: “Above all we must educate, promoting an equitable, caring and caring development that increases opportunities for schooling and education, because where poverty and ignorance reign uncontrollably, fundamentalist violence becomes easier.”
The Bologna Forum attracted participants from countries in the Group of 20, a grouping of nations that together account for about 80% of global gross domestic product. Italy currently holds the rotating presidency of the G-20.