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May 17, 2006
UK: Senior Catholic Warns Muslims Against Bullying Christians
Today's print edition of the UK Daily Telegraph, (page 2) but not on its website apparently, carries a story of the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. The cardinal said last night that: "Where Christians are being denied their rights, or are subject to sharia law, that is not a matter on which Muslims in Britain should remain silent."
Murphy-O'Connor was speaking in Oxford at a talk concerning cooperation between faiths.
"Where religious rights of minorities are disrespected in the name of Islam, the face of Islam is tarnished elsewhere in the world," he stated. He asserted that the biggest obstacle to further dialogue was the failure of many Muslim countries to support religious freedoms.
"If we do not enjoy the freedom to practise our religion openly and without fear, then we cannot be honest: a defensive mentality is created, in which people treat their different religions as clubs."
He said that the biggest problems are faced by Muslims who convert to Christianity, considered in some Islamic states as apostasy, which carries strong penalties.
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said: "It is essential that Muslims can worship freely in Oxford or London, just as it is essential that Christians can freely worship in Riyadh or Kabul."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 17, 2006 9:43 AM
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