15.12.02 - Fundamentalism is 'a disease of all religions'

Pope Francis today said fundamentalism is not just an Islamic problem and is something which exists in all religions, including the Catholic church.

The Argentine pontiff was speaking as he flew back from Central African Republic after a three-nation tour of Africa. He said: 'It is a disease of all religions. We Catholics, we have a few, even many fundamentalists. They believe they know absolute truth and corrupt others. I can say this because this is my church.'

In his last few hours in the country he visited a mosque in the Muslim PK5 area of Bangui, where he was given a rapturous reception by thousands of people. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics called on Christian and Muslim 'brothers and sisters' to end the sectarian conflict that has torn the country apart. 'Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself,' he said.

Speaking later in the day as he flew back to Rome, Francis said Islam was not the only religion to suffer from violent extremists, such as the ones behind the deadly attacks in Paris which were claimed by the Islamic State.

He also visited Kenya on his trip, where he denounced the radicalisation of young people, citing 'barbarous attacks' by Islamic extremists in Nairobi, Garissa and Mandera. Kenya has been on the rough end of a number of attacks since it sent its army into Somalia in 2011, following the kidnappings it blamed on Al-Qaeda's east Africa wing - the Shebab.

He hailed Africa as 'the continent of hope' and made a powerful impression on both Muslim rebels and Christian militias in Central African Republic. In extraordinary scenes before he held a papal mass at the capital's Barthelemy Boganda stadium, a group of Muslim rebels from the PK5 area leapt out of two pickup trucks, all wearing T-shirts bearing the Pope's image. As they pushed through the crowd in an area where Muslims usually do not dare to venture, people cheered and shouted: 'It's over'.

'We thought the whole world had abandoned us, but not him. He loves us Muslims too,' said Idi Bohari, an elderly man. The landlocked Central African Republic descended into bloodshed after longtime Christian leader Francois Bozize was ousted by rebels from the mainly Muslim Seleka force in March 2013. The coup plunged the former French colony into its worst crisis since independence in 1960, and more than 100 people have been killed in the capital since late September alone. After flying back home to Rome today, the Pope spoke in front of his weekly audience in St Peter's Square, Vatican City.

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Fundamentalism is 'a disease of all religions': Pope says it is not just Islam that has extremist factions

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Pope Francis Denounces Religious Fundamentalism That Inspired France Attacks, Mideast Conflict