Pope Francis and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I have issued a rare joint plea against anti-Christian violence, saying the world cannot stand by and allow "a Middle East without Christians".
Winding up a historic three-day visit to Turkey, Francis also urged Muslim leaders worldwide to "clearly" condemn terrorism carried out in the name of Islam.
He said he had told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that "it would be wonderful if all the Muslim leaders of the world - political, religious and academic - spoke up clearly and condemned" violence which damages Islam.
"That would help the majority of Muslims if that came from the mouths of these political, religious and academic leaders. We all have need of a global condemnation," he told reporters aboard the plane taking him back to Rome.
On the final day of his first visit to Turkey, Francis also urged an end to the millennium-old schism between the Orthodox and Catholic churches and said this was even more urgent due to the violence against Christians by IS extremists.
The trip of the pope to Istanbul - once the capital of the Christian Byzantine world and formerly known as Constantinople - has been marked by his overtures to Muslims and other Christian confessions.
In a joint statement, Bartholomew and the leader of the world's Roman Catholics said they could not let Christianity be driven out of the region.
"We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians, who have professed the name of Jesus there for 2,000 years," the church leaders said.
They said the "terrible situation" of Christians calls "for an appropriate response on the part of the international community".
The Church leaders also called on parties involved in the Ukraine conflict "to pursue the path of dialogue and of respect for international law".
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