Coptic Pope Tawadros II: Islamic Terrorism Created by the West

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian Coptic patriarch Pope Tawadros II, which aired on Al-Hayat TV on November 4, 2014:

Pope Tawadros II: The majority of Muslims are moderate. All the Christians are moderate. By no means do they seek temporal rule. As for violent and terrorist groups, which have violated the norms of humanity, about which we all see and read – these were created by the West. The East never produced violence.

Interviewer: The extremist groups were created by the West?

Pope Tawadros II: Right. The West created these groups in order to serve its own interests and goals. One of these goals is to sow division. Sowing division means weakening – dividing countries, dividing armies, dividing nations, dividing places. All this leads to weakness.

Interviewer: Am I to understand that you believe that there is a plot to drive the Christians out of the Middle East?

Pope Tawadros II: Perhaps there is a plot. If we look at what is happening and its timing – perhaps that is the case. It goes without saying that a Middle East devoid of Christians is a global catastrophe.

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