Pope Francis, in his strongest criticism of Islamist militants to date, said yesterday no religious group which used violence and oppression could claim to be “the armour of God”.

Pope Francis made his comments during a one-day visit to Albania, an impoverished Balkan country hailed by the pontiff as a model of inter-faith harmony because of good relations between its majority Muslim community and its Christian denominations.

May no one use religion as a pretext for actions against human dignity

“Let no one consider themselves the ‘armour’ of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression,” he said in the presidential palace in Tirana, responding to an address by Albanian President Bujar Nishani, who is Muslim.

“May no one use religion as a pretext for actions against human dignity and against the fundamental rights of every man and woman, above all to the right to life and the right of everyone to religious freedom,” he said.

Pope Francis, on his first trip as pope to a European country outside Italy, made no direct reference to Islamic State militants who have seized territory in Syria and Iraq, but it was clear he had events in the Middle East in mind. About 70,000 Syrian Kurds have fled into Turkey since Friday as Islamic State militants seized dozens of villages close to the border. A Kurdish politician from Turkey said local people had told him the militants were beheading people as they went from village to village.

Islamic State has declared a “caliphate” in the territories they control and have killed or driven out large numbers of Christians, Shi’ite Muslims and others who do not subscribe to their hardline version of Sunni Islam.

Asked specifically about Islamic State last month when returning from a trip to South Korea, Francis endorsed action by the international community to stop “unjust aggression”.

In Tirana, Pope Francis lauded the mutual respect and trust between Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Albania as a “precious gift” and a powerful symbol in today’s world.

“This is especially the case in these times where an authentic religious spirit is being perverted by extremist groups and where religious differences are being distorted and instrumentalised,” said Pope Francis.

The Pope said a Mass before some 250,000 people in a square in central Tirana named after the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, an ethnic Albanian who is a national heroine.

Both the Vatican and Albanian officials dismissed media reports of concern for the Pope’s safety.

Security appeared normal for a papal trip overseas and in some places lighter than in some previous trips.

Some 60 per cent of all Albanians are Muslim, while Roman Catholics account for just 10 percent of the population.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.