By Claude Salhani-Trend:
On the final day of his three-day visit to Turkey, Pope Francis told Islamist militants in neighboring Syria and Iraq they were committing a "profoundly grave sin against God".
No doubt this is sound counsel from the Bishop of Rome. But realistically, what are the chances of anyone among the ranks of the so-called Islamic State to heed the words of advice from someone like the pope, given their disdain of anything foreign to their narrow thoughts.
In the closing days of World War II, Winston Churchill, then prime minister of Great Britain, was discussing the future of Eastern Europe with the Soviet Union's Josef Stalin. At one point during the conversation Churchill cautioned the Soviet dictator that he should consider the views of the Vatican. To which Stalin is said to have replied "...And how many divisions does the pope of Rome have?"
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, self- proclaimed caliph of the new so-called Islamic State, may very well say the same thing about the pope's comments in Istanbul. And this is assuming the self-appointed "caliph" even bothers to listen to what the pope has to say.
The pope's words spoken in Turkey are well intended, of that there is no room for doubt. He talks about peace and interfaith understanding. In short, the pope comes dressed all in white, carrying a message of peace. On the opposite side is the so-called caliph ironically, all dressed in black, giving us the analogy that throughout history the good guys were always dressed in white while the bad guys always wore black.
The choice of Turkey was carefully selected and the political astuteness of the pope can be seen herein. It seems picture perfect for the occasion. The head of the Catholic Church is received by with all honors due to a head of state that he is, by an Islamist government, who demonstrates that there can very well be cordial relations between Islam and Christianity.
Speaking from a country that is host to some two million refugees - many of them Christians - from the wars in next door in Iraq and Syria, Pope Francis called for inter-faith dialogue.
Celebrating Sunday mass jointly with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians, Francis said as head of the Catholic Church 1.3 billion Catholics, that people of all faiths could not remain indifferent to the cries of the victims of the "inhumane and brutal" war next door.
"Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence - or consenting to such acts - especially when directed against the weakest and defenseless, is a profoundly grave sin against God," Pope Francis said.
At the same time the pope also spoke out against the violence in Nigeria, where at least 82 people were killed recently during an attack on a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, Nigeria's largest city.
This was the third time that the pope mentioned violence connected with the Islamic State insurgents. Fighters with the IS consider anyone who is not 100 percent with them, and not Sunni Muslim, to be the enemy. They have killed hundreds of Shiites, Christians and even hundreds of others Sunnis, like the Kurds, with whom they disagree.
The pope said priority should be given to solving the problem of poverty, which he said would help solve the recruitment of terrorists.
Basically, in his argument of the thesis of "just war", Pope Francis said that it is lawful for the international community to use force to stop an "unjust aggressor", nevertheless, a lasting solution to end war must be found.
Father Claudio Monge, an Italian Catholic priest in Turkey for 12 years who is involved in Christian-Muslim dialogue was quoted by Reuters as saying: "The message is that those who use God as a pretext for violence cannot be a true believers. Those who have ears to hear will understand. He is appealing to true believers."
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Claude Salhani is senior editor at Trend Agency, in Azerbaijan.
You can follow Claude on Twitter @claudesalhani