Pope Francis will receive
four British imams in a private audience on Wednesday April 5
following the recent Westminster terror attack, the Bishop of
Westminster Vincent Nichols, who will accompany them, told the
SIR news agency today.
"Next week I will bring four Muslim leaders of Britain to
Pope Francis to say that religious leaders want and are
committed to building relations", Nichols said.
Nichols said the terror attack, which killed four people,
"has nothing to do with borders."
He said "the attacker was a man born in Britain, who gew up
in Britain.
"He spent a brief period in Saudi Arabia and became a Muslim.
But we must also say that he was a man with a long history of
violence. He was in prison five or six times, and those who knew
him speak of a very angry man.
"This incident must therefore be seen and interpreted in all
its aspects".
For the future, Nichols said, "there is a very important
thing to learn and that is not allowing communities to isolate
themselves.
"I think that people of faith have a lot to offer. The
dialogue between people who believe in God creates a common
space.
"And from this standpoint it is a duty for religious leaders
to speak to one another, meet, explore common solutions
together, address the question of religious belief that begets
extremism and violence.
"But pay attention to relegating faith to a private sphere
because that contributes still more to the isolation of
communities and does not help the construction of an inclusive
society."
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