“A crime committed in the name of religion is blasphemy,” says Patriarch Bartholomew in Assisi

“We must not accept division as a natural state, and no crime should ever be committed in the name of religion,” emphasized the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He made these remarks at a forum held during a meeting organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio in Assisi to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Prayer for Peace.

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction…”