Pope Francis has condemned the deadly attacks that occurred at the emir of Kano’s Central mosque in Kano, northern Nigeria, describing it as an “extremely serious sin against God”.
Pope Frances made the comments on Sunday, the final day of his trip to Turkey.
At least 150 people were killed and 135 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers on Friday at the Grand Mosque in Kano.
In a meeting with Turkish political and religious officials, at the start of his second trip to the Middle East this year, the Pope further urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed in Islam’s name against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.
Pope Francis visit is aimed at improving inter-faith ties.
God Of Life And Peace
He reaffirmed that military force was justified to halt the Islamic State group’s advance, and called for greater dialogue between Christians, Muslims and people of all faiths to end fundamentalism.
“As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations against human dignity and human rights,” Francis told Mehmet Gormez, Turkey’s top cleric and other religious officials gathered at the government-run Religious Affairs Directorate.
“As such, any violence which seeks religious justification warrants the strongest condemnation because the omnipotent is the God of life and peace.”
Francis condemned the “barbaric violence” by IS against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities and the destruction of their places of worship.
The Vatican has voiced particular concern about the expulsion of Christians from communities that have had a Christian presence for 2,000 years and has demanded that they be allowed to return home in safety once the conflict settles.
Francis’s three-day visit comes at a sensitive moment for Turkey, as it struggles to cope with 1.6 million refugees fleeing the IS advance in Syria and weighs how to respond to US calls to get more engaged with the international coalition fighting the extremists.
Turkey has accused the group of casting a shadow over Islam and has said Muslim countries have a duty to stand up against its radical views. But Ankara is still negotiating with the US over helping the coalition, pressing for a safe haven and a no-fly zone along the Syrian border with Turkey and demanding the coalition go after Syrian president Bashar Assad’s regime.
Turkey has long been accused of turning a blind eye to IS fighters entering Syria from its territory in the hope that it would hasten Assad’s downfall – charges it denies.
“Those who veer away from the message of Islam – which is a call for peace – and spread violence and savagery are in a state of rebellion against Allah no matter what they call themselves,” Mr Gormez told the Pope, stressing Turkey’s opposition to the fundamentalists.
The Pope’s comment is coming two days after the attack in Kano, which was also condemned by President Goodluck Jonathan.
President Jonathan has ordered full-scale investigation into the attack, emphasising his administration’s commitment to ending the incessant attacks which the Red Cross says had left displaced over 400,000 persons.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the Boko Haram sect is the prime suspect, as the group had carried out similar attacks in the past.
