Pope Benedict XVI appealed to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike to "root out" religious fundamentalism, as deadly unrest sweeps the Middle East over a film mocking Islam.
The Pope, who arrived in Lebanon on Friday for a three-day visit, has also told the Christian minority in the Middle East not to fear for its future.
His exhortations were made public as he put his signature to recommendations emerging from a synod of bishops he convened two years ago to examine the future of the Christian minority in the region and its relations with Islam and Judaism.
The focus is a document, known as "Ecclesia in Medio Oriente," that contains a series of recommendations on how they might live better Christian lives and serve as beacons of peace.
The exhortations examine at length secularization, including its extreme forms, and violent fundamentalism.
Referring to the latter, it says that "religious fundamentalism...seeks to take power for political ends, at times using violence, over the individual conscience and over religion."
The Pope appealed "to all the religious leaders of the Middle East to endeavor, by their example and their teaching, to do everything possible to uproot this threat, which indiscriminately and fatally affects believers."
He said political-economic uncertainties, manipulation by some and inadequate knowledge of religion among others contribute to fundamentalism, which he told reporters on his flight to Lebanon leads to the "falsification of religion."
On Thursday, a group of Muslim scholars based in Qatar accused the Pope of spreading fear of Muslims among Christians.
The International Union of Muslim Scholars accused him of "fuelling sedition" by "planning to sign an apostolic exhortation that contains dangerous messages and ideas."
The International Union of Muslim Scholars accused him of "fuelling sedition" by "planning to sign an apostolic exhortation that contains dangerous messages and ideas."
It said the messages include a "warning from the Islamization of the society and spreading fear among Christians from political Islam in the region.”
