The Muslim faith does not condone violence and only a minority of its followers are extremists, Pope Francis said Monday despite a wave of recent jihadist attacks in Europe including the beheading of a French priest.
"I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence. This is not right or true," Francis told journalists on the plane back from Poland after a five-day trip to attend World Youth Day .
"One thing is true: I think that in nearly all religions there is always a small group of fundamentalists," the pontiff noted, adding that it was a problem also for Christians.
"If I had to talk about Muslim violence, I would have to also talk about Catholic violence. Not all Muslims are violent. Not all Catholics are violent," he added.
Europeans should ask themselves what drives disaffected youth "empty of ideals, who do not have work" to join extremists like the Islamic State jihadist group, Francis said.
His predecessor Pope Benedict XVI sparked a deadly backlash in the Muslim world in 2008 with his speech quoting a Byzantine Christian emperor who called a Islam a violent religion spread by the sword.
