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He spoke out against the menace posed by Islamic fundamentalism after an Israeli television channel reported that the Vatican could be ISIS’s next target.

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Channel 1 said American intelligence officials had warned the Holy See of the possibility of an attack. In a separate claim, Bild am Sonntag, a German newspaper, reported that telephone conversations between ISIS leaders, intercepted by the U.S. National Security Agency, indicated that four units of “commando” terrorists were preparing to infiltrate Europe on boatloads of refugees.

Italian and Vatican authorities downplayed the reports, saying they had received no concrete information about an imminent attack against either the Pope or the Vatican.

Angelino Alfano, the interior minister, said that while Italy and the Vatican were not at “zero risk”, no specific intelligence had been passed on.

“What is evident, however, is that the Vatican has been named several times, unfortunately, by the caliphate of the Islamic State,” he said.

ISIS has declared its ambition to “conquer Rome” and to see the black flag of the Islamic caliphate flying from the top of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Security was stepped up for the Pope’s address on Sunday and yesterday at least seven police vehicles were positioned in St Peter’s Square, more than is usual.

The Pope blamed “the spread of fundamentalist terrorism in Syria and in Iraq” for much of the violence tearing apart the Middle East, saying that it had “chilling repercussions” such as the -massacre of civilians and the persecution of Christians and other minorities.

The Daily Telegraph