Despite Everything, Pope Still Open to Dialogue with ISIS
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21)
Speaking to reporters in flight following a speech at the European Parliament and the Council of Europe Tuesday, Pope Francis said he would “never close the door” on dialogue, even with the Islamic State terror group.
“I never count anything as lost. Never. Never close the door . It’s difficult, you could say almost impossible, but the door is always open,” he said, in response to a specific question about Islamic jihad. The Christian Post reported his comments.
The Pope’s attitude is generous, considering reports in September, including one by Israel National News, that IS was targeting the pontiff. Iraq’s ambassador to the Vatican, Habeeb Al Sadr, warned, “What has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear – they want to kill the Pope. The threats against the Pope are credible.”
Pope Francis has spoken out in the past about war, warning it was “never a satisfactory way to right injustices” back in September, according to The Christian Post.
“War leads people into a spiral of violence which becomes difficult to control. It destroys what it has taken generations to establish and leads the way to even worse conflicts and injustices.”
During his conversation with reporters Tuesday, the Pope also noted the fine line between defeating terrorists and becoming terrorists. He decried states acting unilaterally, believing they have “the right to massacre terrorists and with the terrorists many innocent people fall.”
In addition to terrorism, he noted slavery as a major danger to the world today.
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