Abu Dhabi: Pope Francis on Monday rejected "hatred and violence" in the name of God, on the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the Muslim-majority Arabian Peninsula.
The pontiff, who met with the world's top Sunni Muslim cleric in Abu Dhabi, said "every form of violence must be condemned without hesitation... No violence can be justified in the name of religion".
The pope also called for the "full recognition of the other and his or her freedom" in a meeting with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the top Sunni Muslim cleric.
Religious freedom "is not limited only to freedom of worship but sees in the other truly a brother or sister, a child of my own humanity whom God leaves free and whom, therefore, no human institution can coerce, not even in God's name", Pope Francis said.
The pope arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night for a three-day visit, during which he will lead a historical open-air mass for some 135,000 Catholics.
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