VATICAN CITY:
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on Pakistan to scrap the law against blasphemy as part of a strongly-worded defence of Christians living in Muslim majority countries.“I once more encourage the leaders of that country to take the necessary steps to abrogate that law,” the leader of the world’s more than one billion Catholics said in a traditional New Year’s address to ambassadors to the Vatican.
“The tragic murder of the governor of Punjab shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction,” he said, adding that the law against blasphemy was an example of “norms prejudicing the right to religious freedom”.
Controversy over the legislation flared both within Pakistan and internationally after a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, was sentenced to death last year on blasphemy charges.
The Pope also called for Aasia Bibi to be released.
More than 50,000 people rallied in Karachi on Sunday against calls for a reform of the law, believed to be one of the factors behind the assassination of Salman Taseer.
In his address, the Pope condemned anti-Christian attacks in Egypt and Iraq, saying they showed “the urgent need for governments of the region to adopt... effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”
A bomb attack against a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria on New Year’s Day killed 21 people. Forty-four worshippers and two priests were left dead after militants stormed a church in central Baghdad in October.
Addressing the political and religious leaders in Iraq, the pope said Christians should “be able to live in security, continuing to contribute to the society in which they are fully members”.
The pope also said the Roman Catholic Church should be able to operate freely through “suitable pastoral structures” in the Arabian Peninsula. The peninsula is dominated by ultra-conservative countries, including Saudi Arabia.
He quoted a statement from a recent Vatican meeting of bishops from the Middle East saying that Christians were “original and authentic citizens” of the region who were loyal to the countries in which they lived.
He said that religious freedom should not be only about freedom of worship but also about encouraging wider respect of human rights in the region and educating children “to respect their brothers and sisters in humanity”.
“Peace is built and preserved only when human beings can freely seek and serve God,” he said, adding that violation of religious freedoms around the world constituted a “grave attack on... dignity and freedom”.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2011.
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