BALTIMORE, Maryland December 1, 2014 - Pope Francis has ended his three-day visit to Turkey after blasting ISIS and other Jihadists for butchering Christians, an act he said has no redeeming purpose. And in a rare joint statement on a present day issue, the Pope joined with the leader of the Orthodox Christian world to emphasize that there can never be justification for killing innocents, most notably Christian citizens of predominantly Muslim nations.
Incredibly, the President of Turkey took the opportunity to blame the west including the United States, for the killing of Christians. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was the fault of the West for the rise of ISIS, and the west has to accept their strategies and acts.
The Pontiff would have nothing of such talk. "Fanaticism and fundamentalism, as well as irrational fears which foster misunderstanding and discrimination, need to be countered by the solidarity of all believers," Pope Francis said.
The Pontiff met in Istanbul Saturday and Sunday with Bartholomew I, the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, which has millions of followers in Russia, Turkey and other nations in the Eurasia areas. He was invited to the meeting by Bartholomew, who asked that the Pontiff participate with him in celebrating the Feast of Saint Andrew, founder of the Orthodox Church and brother of Saint Peter.
In a rare joint statement, the two Christian Leaders said “We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians, who have professed the name of Jesus there for two thousand years.” the two Church leaders said in a joint declaration. The report and more information about the visit can be found in the Times of Israel and at the website of the Holy See at Vatican City, Rome. See: http://www.timesofisrael.com/pope-orthodox-head-pledge-to-protect-mideast-christians/#ixzz3KfZ7UzRL Also see the Holy See Web page at http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html
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