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            Pope: Interfaith Dialogue 'Essential' to Avoid Violence

   by VOA News

   Pope Francis has told an audience of Christian and Muslim leaders in
   the Kenyan capital that they must engage in dialogue to guard against
   radicalization and acts of violence in the name of God.

   Speaking at an interfaith meeting at the Vatican's diplomatic mission
   in Nairobi, the pope said interfaith dialogue is "essential," not just
   an option or a luxury. He made mention of several recent radical
   Islamist attacks in Kenya, including the April Garissa University
   attack in northeastern Kenya, in which 150 people died, and the 2013
   attack on Nairobi's Westgate Mall in which 67 people were killed.

   The al-Shabab militant group has claimed responsibility for those
   attacks. It opposes the Kenyan government's decision to send troops to
   neighboring Somalia to help in the fight against the radical group.

   On Friday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church is to visit with the
   poor in Nairobi's Kangemi slum, and visit with youth at Kasarani
   Stadium.

   ''

   In his later stops, he is scheduled to make a visit to a shrine to
   Christian martyrs in Uganda, and to visit a mosque and a refugee camp
   in the Central African Republic.  Bridging Muslim - Christian rifts is
   one theme of his first tour of Africa.

   During his trip the pontiff also is expected to highlight the effects
   of climate change, having previously said the underprivileged are
   disproportionately affected by changes in weather patterns.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-interfaith-dialogue-essential-to
   -avoid-violence/3074592.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/pope-interfaith-dialogue-essential-to-avoid-violence/3074592.html