[Daily Monitor] Pope Francis said Sunday that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists.Pope Francis said Sunday that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists.
"It's not true and it's not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism," he told journalists aboard the papal plane during the return journey from a trip to Poland.
"I don't think it is right to equate Islam with violence".
Francis defended his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal jihadist murder of a Catholic priest in France in the latest of a string of recent attacks in Europe claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
"In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too."