Pope calls for inter-religious dialogue against terrorism
Nairobi - Pope Francis on Thursday called on representatives of different religions to cooperate and act as "peacemakers," stressing that the name of God "must never be used to justify hatred and violence."
"All too often, young people are being radicalised in the name of religion to sow discord and fear," the pope told representatives of non-Catholic Christian denominations, Muslims and traditional African religions in Nairobi on the second day of a six-day Africa tour.
He referred to attacks by the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab which killed a total of about 230 people in the past two years, at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in 2013, and at a university campus in eastern Kenya and in the northern county of Mandera this year.
The relationship between different religions is "challenging," the pope admitted.
"Yet ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue is not a luxury. It is not something extra or optional, but essential, something which our world, wounded by conflict and division, increasingly needs," he added.
Muslim representative Abdulghafur El-Busaidy said there could be no peace between nations without peace between religions.
The 78-year-old Argentinian pontiff arrived on Wednesday in Nairobi, meeting President Uhuru Kenyatta and other dignitaries.
Thursday's programme includes a mass before an estimated 500,000 people. It is expected to become the largest event of the tour, which will also take the pope to Uganda and the Central African Republic.
Francis' first Africa tour is his 11th visit abroad since he became pope in 2013.
Africa is home to an estimated 180 million Catholics, and their numbers are growing faster than anywhere else in the world.
RELATED