The final scenes from the Stations of the Cross are played out today in Sydney, Australia. The Stations of the Cross, where actors re-create the biblical account of Jesus Christ's final days, has 13 acts total and will be played out at sites across the inner city.Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia — Pope Benedict XVI today urged religious leaders of all kinds to unite against those who use faith to divide communities — an apparent reference to terrorism in the name of religion.

Benedict met with representatives of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist faiths for about 40 minutes during the Roman Catholic Church's youth festival, which has drawn hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Sydney.

"In a world threatened by sinister and indiscriminate forms of violence, the unified voice of religious people urges nations and communities to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and with full regard for human dignity," Benedict told a gathering of clerics from different faiths in Sydney.

Without mentioning terrorism directly, the pontiff said creating harmony between religion and public life was "all the more important at a time when some people have come to consider religion as a cause of division rather than a force for unity."

The remarks come as the Vatican tries to repair ties with the Islamic world that were strained by a speech he gave in 2006 that appeared to associate Islam with violence, outraging many Muslims.