Jos — Pope Benedict XIV has identified manipulation of religion for political ends, ethnicity, religious discrimination, ignorance, underdevelopment and poverty as major causes of violence within religious communities.

This was contained in a message conveyed through the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue signed by President Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran and Secretary Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata respectively to Muslims to mark the end of this year's Ramadan.

It was delivered to the Chief Imam of Jos Central Mosque Sheikh Balarabe Dawud in Jos yesterday.

Delivering the message, the Archbishop of Jos Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama urged authorities to proffer solutions to the lingering crises in the society, adding that civil authorities should safeguard the law by ensuring true justice to end the recurrent violence in the state.

He recommended that adherents of the two main religions should open their hearts to mutual forgiveness and reconciliation for a peaceful and fruitful co-existence and respect individual differences, saying it was the basis for culture of dialogue.

Receiving the message, Sheikh Dawud noted that Catholics differ from other churches in terms of working for peaceful co-existence and urged other churches to emulate them to have a better society.

"This visit will go a long way to tell the world that all is well between us and the Catholic Church and we pray that such harmonious relationship will be sustained," he said. Sheikh Dawud praised the Archbishop of Jos Most Rev. Kaigama, saying he was a true symbol of Christianity.