Pope Francis has said it is “not right and not true” to identify Islam with violence following the brutal murder of a Catholic priest by extremists in France, which was claimed by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
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“One thing is true: I think that in almost all religions there is always a small group of fundamentalists”, he added. “We must wait for justice and not make judgments ahead of time”, the pope said.
“I do not like to speak of Islamic violence, because everyday when you read the newspapers you see violence”, Francis told reporters on the plane back to Rome late Sunday. Francis announced that the next World Youth Day will take place in Panama in 2019.
As the Founder of World Youth Day, the vigil included a reflection on the words of St John Paul II during World Youth Day at Czestochowa, Poland in 1991.
Echoing remarks he has made on previous occasions, Francis said, “I think there are fundamentalist groups in every religion”.
Acknowledging that there are fundamentalist groups, the Pope stressed that there are many young people, including Europeans themselves, who “have left empty of ideals, who have no work”, and who turn to drugs and alcohol and “enlist in fundamentalist groups”.
Francis responded, “When I had to say things that Turkey did not like, I said them with the consequences that you know”.
But Friday was a day of mourning as Francis walked silently through the notorious wrought-iron “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Sets You Free) gate at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, where 1.1 million people were murdered.
“And these are baptized Catholics”.
Although the Mass brought the World Youth Day celebrations to an end, Pope Francis invited the youth to continue along the path that began with their pilgrimage to Krakow and bring the remembrance of God’s love to others.
“If I talk about Islamic terrorism, I should also talk about the Catholic terrorism”, he went on to say.
At Sunday’s Mass, several Polish police vans followed the pope’s open-sided popemobile as he rode through the wide flat meadow in the middle of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. He added, “the first terrorism is when we put the idol of money at the center, not the human person”.
“Terrorism is everywhere. You think of tribal terrorism of some African countries”, he said. Others are known to meet their future spouses at World Youth Days or to discern a call to be a monk or nun as a result of the experience. “Instead, establish the most secure connection, that of the heart that sees and transmits goodness without tiring”.
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The final festivities were attended by “between 2.5 and 3.0 million people”, 2016 World Youth Day spokesperson Anna Chmura said. “The question is whether parishes will be able to cultivate what is planted here, or will it be choked?”
