Pope Francis: You Cannot Impose Democracy On Cultures That Have No History Of Democracy

Pope Francis celebrates a mass of Pentecost in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Reuters: Pope criticises West for trying to export own brand of democracy to Iraq, Libya

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis criticised Western powers for trying to export their own brand of democracy to countries such as Iraq and Libya without respecting indigenous political cultures, according to an interview published on Monday.

Speaking to France's Roman Catholic newspaper, La Croix, Francis also said Europe should better integrate migrants and praised the election of the new Muslim mayor of London as an example of where this had been successful.

"Faced with current Islamist terrorism, we should question the way a model of democracy that was too Western was exported to countries where there was a strong power, as in Iraq, or Libya, where there was a tribal structure," he said.

"We cannot advance without taking these cultures into account," the pope said.

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WNU Editor: He is right on the "imposing democracy part" .... that has to come within a society and culture if it has any hopes of succeeding. He is wrong on the Muslim immigration part .... Europe is not a melting pot and many Muslims are not integrating into the societies that they are immigrating to. Muslim ghettos are becoming the norm in many European capitals .... and all the social and cultural problems associated from this "clash of civilizations" are only going to get worse. Sharia law, treatment of women, the importance of Islam in solving legal disputes and conflicts .... this is not the secularism that Europe is use to .... far from it.

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