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VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - A high-ranking Vatican bishop and head of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is saying it would be "naïve" to ignore violent passages in the Qu'ran.

"It would be naïve to pretend that there are not certain episodes in the Qu'ran and the Hadith that may lend themselves to a violent interpretation," said Bp. Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, a close advisor to Pope Francis. "But those who want to work towards that end from within will find a strong ally and friend in the Catholic Church, ready to accompany on the way."

The fact that Sorondo is speaking out about Islam in such a blunt matter is surprising, especially owing to his liberal track record.

When conflicting reports came out in April that pro-abortion presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was invited to the Vatican to meet with the Pope, claims were that the candidate was invited by Bp. Sorondo himself.

In 2015, Sorondo was open about his belief regarding climate change and said the best way of fighting the climate change issue and poverty was through "redistribution of public spending" combined with government-led monitoring of carbon emissions.

When the Vatican and the United Nations teamed up to release the U.N. Sustainable Devolpment Goals (SDGs), which many Catholics had criticized for its support of abortion and population control, Sorondo responded by defending the U.N.

Other members of the Church hierarchy are also warning against the evils of Islam, among them Patriarch Younan of Syria, who said that radical Islam results in taking the Qu'ran literally.

Go to the depth of the problem. … It is a matter of Islam, radical Islam, and most of the Sunni Muslims are radical. Why? Because they take their Quran literally. In the Quran ... you have verses that are very intolerant, very violent. … A Muslim has to learn the Quran literally … and if you have people memorizing verses like "Go and kill the infidels" … this is the problem.

Also in July, the well-respected Cdl. Raymond Burke also spoke out against the rising influx of Islamic migration in Europe, saying that there is "reason to be afraid."

"I think the appropriate response is to be firm about the Christian origin of our own nation, and certainly in Europe, and the Christian foundations of the government, and to fortify those," he remarked. "We have to say no, our country is not free to become a Muslim state."

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