This AP article appears in The Times of Israel
Pope Francis told Christian and Muslim leaders in Kenya on Thursday that they have little choice but to engage in dialogue to guard against the “barbarous” Islamic extremist attacks that have struck Kenya as he kicked off his first full day in Africa with a message of tolerance and peace.
Francis began his first full day in Kenya with a meeting of about 25 representatives of Kenya’s faith groups: Anglicans, other Protestants, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Jews.
The pope insisted that religion can never be used to justify violence and lamented that “all too often, young people are being radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies.”
He said dialogue among the faiths isn’t a luxury or optional, but is simply “essential.”