Pope Francis proclaimed in a joint service with Patriarch Bartholomew I  (spiritual head of the Orthodox Churches) that ISIS militants were carrying out a "profoundly grave sin against God" in Syria and Iraq. Here’s the story from NBC News:

Francis said people of all faiths could not remain indifferent to the cries of the victims of the "inhumane and brutal" war next door. "Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence — or consenting to such acts — especially when directed against the weakest and defenseless, is a profoundly grave sin against God," he said during the service. …

In a separate joint statement issued during the service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the official seat of the Orthodox Christian patriarch, Francis and Bartholomew said: "Muslims and Christians are called to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war."

Response: Kudos to the Pope for speaking the truth while visiting Turkey-a Muslim country. It is also time for other major Christian leaders around the world to speak out and condemn what is happening in Syria and Iraq in the name of Allah according to the ISIS radicals. Even more important, Muslim leaders should speak out against the atrocities being perpetrated in the name of Islam.

While Pope Francis was on tour in Turkey he called for dialogues between Muslim and Christian leaders about the on-going persecution of Christians in Muslim lands. He also called upon Muslim leaders to rise up in unity against the ISIS radicals and their inhumane actions.             *Top