The Pope launched a new, harsh condemnation of terrorism that he called "a crime, which brings shame upon whose who commit it and which is even more blameworthy when it shelters behind a religion, thus abasing God’s pure truth to the measure of their own blindness and moral perversion". These are the words that Pope Benedict XVI said this morning to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. In his speech, the Pope spoke of the "risk of a clash of civilisations", "aggravated by organised terrorism, which by now has spread all over the planet". Hence his request for commitment from the diplomacies of the world. "The diplomacies’ commitment to truth, on a bilateral and multilateral level said the Pope can give an essential contribution, so that the undeniable differences of the peoples of different parts of the world and their cultures may be reconciled, not just in a tolerant coexistence but into a nobler and richer humane plan". As in the past, cultural exchanges should also be increased, also "between the Arab world and the European world". "This is why today we should, above all, remove all barriers to access to information through the press and modern computer systems and, in addition, increase exchanges of teachers and students between the humane studies of the universities of the different cultural regions".
