“Recently, some Vatican officials have asked Muslim scholars to condemn the brutal attacks of the extremist group ISIL (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) against Christians and the religious minorities in northern Iraq. I urge all the Muslims around the world to condemn such inhumane crimes,” said Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi in his message to Pope Francis.
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi added that extremist groups, regardless of their religion and nationalities, are the biggest menace to humanity.
He also referred to his meeting with the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran three years ago in which he had said, “There is not a single week in which I do not condemn acts of extremist groups during my speeches. The acts of such minority of extremists do not speak for Islam”.
The Iranian Shiite cleric further said he expected Vatican to show reaction to crimes and brutalities which are committed, whether against Christian minorities in Muslim countries or against Muslim minorities in the West.
Since the ISIL terrorists took control of many regions in the north of Iraq in June, Shiite clerics in Iran and Iraq have in numerous occasions condemned their acts of terrorism and warned that the terrorist group is committing its crimes in the name of Islam and that their heinous actions pose serious threats to the true image of the Muslim world.