TheCable

Pope Francis on Monday affirmed that Islam is not a violent religion, saying only a minority of its faithful were fundamentalists.

According to the Vatican City, the pope spoke on the plane while flying back from Poland to Rome.

“I think it is neither true nor right to say that Islam is a terrorist religion,” he said.

The pope was in Poland from Wednesday to Sunday for World Youth Day, a week-long event attended by over a million pilgrims.

A day before he left, an elderly Catholic priest was killed in Northern France during Mass, in an attack that the Islamic State claimed responsibility.

The pontiff noted that “one thing is true, I think that in nearly all religions there is always a small group of fundamentalists, and it is a problem also for Christians.

“If I had to talk about Muslim violence, I would have to also talk about Catholic violence. Not all Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent”.

He said Europeans should reflect on what drove disaffected youth to join the Islamic terror group.

“I ask myself how many young people, whom we Europeans have left empty of ideals, have no jobs and turn to drugs, alcohol or enroll themselves in fundamentalist groups,” he said.