Pope Denounces ‘Deviant Forms of Religion’
Fundamentalism Turns God Into a Mere Ideological Pretext for Crimes, Pope Says
ENLARGE
Pope Francis referred to last week’s attacks in France and the strife in the Middle East.
Associated Press
In his annual speech to diplomats accredited with the Holy See, the pope called on Muslim leaders in particular to denounce an “extremist interpretation” of their religion that attempts to justify acts of violence, and asked the international community to denounce fundamentalism.
Among the acts carried out by religious fundamentalists, the pope mentioned the “tragic slayings” in Paris last week, and persecution of minorities, including Christians, in Iraq and Syria.
On Sunday, nearly four million people took to the streets of France to show unity in the face of terrorism after the deadly attacks last week that began in the newsroom of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, and continued with the shooting dead of a policewoman on Thursday and four hostages at a kosher grocery store on Friday.
Pope Francis, 78, has reached out to Muslims as part of his aim to increase interreligious dialogue. In 2014 he visited Turkey and Albania as part of that process.
On Monday, the Argentine-born pontiff mentioned those two trips. The head of the world’s roughly 1.2 billion Roman Catholics praised Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, where Muslims form the majority of the population.
Albania is “a nation full of young people who represent hope for the future,” he told diplomats, noting the atmosphere of respect and mutual trust between Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the country.
“This is an important sign that sincere faith in God makes one open to others, generates dialogue and works for the good, whereas violence is always the product of a falsification of religion…whose only goal is power over others,” said Pope Francis.
In his speech, he mentioned the indiscriminate acts of violence in Nigeria and the kidnapping of girls in Africa’s most populous country. Muslim militant group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for many of these attacks.
The pope departs later Monday for a weeklong trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, his second visit to Asia since becoming pope in March 2013. Last August he went to South Korea.
Write to Liam Moloney at liam.moloney@wsj.com
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LI Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
