Religious Endowments Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa has said that the recent remarks by Pope Francis, of the Catholic Church, on Islam were positive, considering it as a step that encourages communication and dialogue and prompts building bridges of confidence and mutual respects among peoples and religions.
Gomaa described the Egyptian model in mutual respect and constructive cooperation between Muslims and Copts as an excellent one that could contribute to building of wider bridges of communication between Muslims and Christians worldwide in favor of humanity which is in need for peace rather than conflicts.
Pope Francis said on Sunday that equating Islam with violence was wrong and called on Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help dispel the stereotype.
"You just can’t say that, just as you can’t say that all Christians are fundamentalists. We have our share of them. All religions have these little groups," he said. "They (Muslims) say: ‘No, we are not this, the Koran is a book of peace, it is a prophetic book of peace'."
