THE brother of a Scot beheaded by ISIS militants in Syria has meat with Pope Francis.
Mike Haines brother David, and aid worker, was murdered by Islamic extremists last year after being abducted while working for an international relief agency in 2013.
Mike haines met the Pope alongside Baraera Henning, the widow of taxi driver Alan Henning, ho was delivering aid to Syria when he was kidnapped and held hostage by ISIS militants. A video of his brutal murder was released in October 2014.
The pair have written a letter calling for "unity of people of all faiths in our society" and urging "churches, mosques, synagogues to open their doors and welcome people of all faiths".
Mike Haines has dedicated his efforts to promoting inter-religious tolerance and unity against extremism. He said his meeting with the pontiff "took (his) breath breath away" and that the Pope "said he was going to pray for me to continue the work that we're doing on unity and tolerance and bringing our communities together."
He added: "My first reaction could be one of hatred. But my brother's life wasn't about hatred. It was about love for all men. Radicalisation remains the biggest threat to the wholesale safety of every person in the world. Increasingly we are seeing more and more radicalisation in every walk of life.
"It is not a race, religion or political issue - it is a human issue and it is in our everyday lives."
Speaking ahead of the general audience, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, said: "Mike Haines will be bringing to the Vatican his message of inter-religious understanding. Pope Francis has called for a common commitment to end fighting, hatred and violence. Mike Haines is living that commitment in an extraordinary way."
Former RAF veteran David Haines, who died at the age of 44, was married with two children. He was abducted in March last year while working in the Atmeh refugee camp, in Syria, for the French aid agency Acted.
He spent more than two decades working with aid agencies in Syria, Libya, the former Yugoslavia and South Sudan.
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