Is Pope Francis in DANGER? Pontiff refuses to wear bullet proof vest after chilling ISIS threats

Pope will not change his life for terrorists

Pope Francis refuses to accept more protection following serious threats from the Islamic State. The popular pontiff will not wear a bullet proof vest or make alterations to his Popemobile.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - ISIS has threatened to invade Rome in multiple occurrences, and Pope Francis, as the head of the Catholic church, is considered a main target. However, Pope Francis insists he is "not afraid."

As Christmas approaches, concerns over the pope's safety have increased and he has been advised by police to "beef up" security. Despite all of this, he refuses to change anything in the relaxed and informal way he approaches the people.

"He is not afraid," his spokesman said to Express.co.uk, "[He] knows everything [about the threat from ISIS] but he doesn't want to lose the contact with the people."

"There are special measures, you see the presence of the police everywhere, also of the Italian soldiers with guns," expressed the Vatican's deputy media director, noting there will most likely not be increased security measures for Christmas.

According to Father Ciro Benedettini, the church is fully aware of the ISIS propaganda videos featuring Rome. "There are some pictures of the black flag [of ISIS] on St Peter's," he explained. "It could be a real threat, maybe it is something just to show how powerful they are and that is really easy to do a post like that."

The latest ISIS video shows images of the terrorist group approaching a crumbling Colosseum with an abandoned Vatican City drenched in orange light. The narrator of the video makes promises of a final battle between the "believers" and the "crusaders" where ISIS will take over Rome, destroy crucifixes and take Christian women as slaves. According to Express.co.uk, this video follows announcements on a church website from ISIS hackers stating they would not stop attacks until they "pray in Rome."

"The Muslim armies are supposed to take over Rome, and eventually they are supposed to take over the whole world," stated William McCants, a US expert on jihadism. "The group believes that Muslims will conquer the Italian capital in the course of conquering the entire world. There will be an ultimate victory for Islam and then the end of the world comes."

With all the terrorist attacks happening around the world, one can only imagine what Pope Francis is doing, let alone what he is thinking. He has publicly spoken out against the terrorist organization and the growing violence, but appears to remain unshaken.

"He is not afraid - you have seen that he has gone to Africa, he went to the Central African Republic which everybody asked him to avoid," explained Father Benedettini. "He went there, he didn't have any danger, he was able to invite the imam to come with him in the Popemobile.

"He knows everything obviously but he is not very concerned."