White House reacts to Pope’s comments on ‘world at war’

July 29, 2016

In response to a reporter’s question, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has commented on Pope Francis’s recent remark that the “world is at war” and that the war is not a war of religions.

“Obviously, the American people and everybody here at the White House offers our profound condolences to loved ones of the Catholic priest that was killed by apparent ISIL sympathizers in France earlier this week,” Earnest said on July 28. “It’s a tragedy. And I know that Pope Francis is mourning the loss of that Catholic priest, and the rest of us are, as well.”

Earnest added:

More generally, I will acknowledge I did not see the Pope’s comments before I came out here. But based on what you have relayed, it sounds like it’s quite consistent with the position of the Obama administration and what President Obama himself has articulated, which is it’s a fantasy for ISIL to suggest that they represent Islam in a fight against the world.

The fact is ISIL has declared war against the rest of the world, but they don’t represent Islam. They represent a perverted, nihilistic world view that promises nothing but chaos and violence. And President Obama, I think like Pope Francis, continues to be confident that while that threat needs to be taken seriously, that the rest of the world, including the Muslim world, will prevail over the deeply dark, violent vision that’s put forward by ISIL.

 

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Further information:

• Press Briefing by the Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 7/28/16 (White House)
• 'Not a religious war,' Pope says (CWN, 7/27)