Pope condemns storming of the Capitol in Washington

Pope Francis has condemned the storming of the Capitol building in Washington earlier this week and called on people to reject such violence, in a television interview to be broadcast later on Sunday.

There will always be people who oppose community, democracy and the common good, the pope said in comments to channel Tg5 shown ahead of the broadcast.

He said he had been taken aback by the events in Washington but it was easy to see what had led to them.

He urged people to learn from the situation and from history, in order not to repeat it.

Such groups of people are not integrated into society and such violence tends to break out sooner or later, the pope said.

On Wednesday, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in a deadly assault, halting a Congressional joint sitting, riled up by his claims of election fraud.