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Vatican nuncio fears more anti-Christian violence in Pakistan
14-08-2009
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The blasphemy law in Pakistan, often used by Muslim extremists to foment violence, hangs like "the sword of Damocles" over Christians and members of other minority religions, a Vatican official said.
Archbishop Adolfo Yllana, the Vatican's apostolic nuncio in Pakistan, said he feared that worsening tensions between the Muslim majority and Christians could lead to additional violence. He was meeting in mid-August with top Pakistani officials to discuss the tense interreligious situation.
Archbishop Yllana made the comments in an interview Aug. 12 with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, following an attack on a Christian community Aug. 1 that left eight people dead.
A mob of Muslims set fire to Christian homes after a false rumor spread that a Quran, the sacred book of Islam, had been desecrated. Pakistan's blasphemy law severely punishes vaguely defined insults to the prophet Mohammed or the Quran.
"In practice, the law against blasphemy has become an easy instrument to accuse Christians of any type of illegality. It's enough, for example, that a Christian doesn't pay a debt for him to be accused of blasphemy -- and from there, it's a short step to violence," Archbishop Yllana said.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20090813.htm
