Pope urges imams to preach peace

CAIRO — Pope Francis urged Egypt’s leading imams on Friday to teach their students to reject violence in God’s name and preach messages of peace and tolerance instead, forging ahead with a delicate visit to the Arab world’s most populous country following a spate of deadly Islamic militant attacks against Christians.

Francis’ first event was a landmark visit to Cairo’s Al Azhar university, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islamic learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the world.

There, he warmly embraced Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Al-Azhar’s grand imam who hosted the Pope and other senior Muslim and Christian leaders at a peace conference.

Speaking to the crowd, Francis recalled that Egypt’s ancient civilizations valued the quest for knowledge and open-minded education, and that a similar commitment is required today to combat the “barbarity” of religious extremism among the young.

While Al-Azhar has strongly condemned Islamic fundamentalism, Egypt’s pro-government media has accused its leadership of failing to do enough to reform the religious discourse in Islam and purge canonical books from outdated teachings and hatred for non-Muslims.

“As religious leaders, we are called to unmask violence that masquerades as purported sanctity,” Francis said to applause from the crowd. “Let us say once more a firm and clear ‘No’ to every form of violence, vengeance and hatred carried out in the name of religion or in the name of God.”

“To counter effectively the barbarity of those who foment hatred with violence, we need to accompany young people, helping them on the path to maturity and teaching them to respond to the incendiary logic of evil by patiently working for the growth of goodness,” he said.

El-Tayeb thanked Francis for what he called his “fair” comments against charges of terror and violence levelled against Muslims and Islam.

Francis has said he wanted to bring a message of peace to a country that has for years endured an increasingly emboldened insurgency led by a local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group.