Trump, Francis agree on religious extremism

VATICAN CITY — They are stylistic opposites, one a bombastic tycoon-turned-president, the other a famously modest pope. They disagree openly on such weighty issues as immigration, climate change and economic policy.

But President Donald Trump and Pope Francis share a trait that adds drama to their first meeting today: unpredictability. And when they greet each other — in a Vatican ceremony laden with history and symbolism — they may well find common ground, particularly in denouncing religiously inspired violence and demanding Muslim leaders take a firmer stand in rooting out fanaticism from their places of worship.

Trump’s visit to the Vatican is the third leg of his tour of the world’s three main monotheistic religions, coming after he visited the cradles of Islam and Judaism.

While pope and president differ on many social and economic issues, the two are preaching from the same playbook on extremism. It’s likely that both sides will seek to highlight such common ground after their audience this morning.

In Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Trump implored Middle Eastern leaders to extinguish Islamic extremism from the region and described it as a “battle between good and evil” rather than a clash between the West and Islam.

Those words echoed what Francis said in a trip to Egypt last month as the pope demanded the country’s imams teach their young to reject the use of violence in God’s name and backed an Egyptian government crackdown on Islamic militants who have increasingly targeted the country’s Christian community.

Both Trump and Francis expressed dismay at Monday night’s deadly blast at a concert in Manchester, England.