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February 24, 2006
Vatican to Muslims: 'Practice What You (say) You Preach'
All from the news report - 'Enough turning the other cheek"! Reciprocity, allowing Christian minorities the same rights as Muslims generally have in Western countries, such as building houses of worship or practicing religion freely is at the heart of Vatican diplomacy toward Muslim states.
PARIS (Reuters) After backing calls by Muslims for respect for their religion in the Mohammad cartoons row, the Vatican is now urging Islamic countries to reciprocate by showing more tolerance toward their Christian minorities.Saudi Arabia bans all public expression of any non-Muslim religion and sometimes arrests Christians even for worshipping privately. Pakistan allows churches to operate but its Islamic laws effectively deprive Christians of many rights (usually, any rights at all, including the right to live).Roman Catholic leaders at first said Muslims were right to be outraged when Western newspapers reprinted Danish caricatures of the Prophet, including one with a bomb in his turban. Most Muslims consider any images of Mohammad to be blasphemous.
After criticizing both the cartoons and the violent protests in Muslim countries that followed, the Vatican this week linked the issue to its long-standing concern that the rights of other faiths are limited, sometimes severely, in Muslim countries.
Cross posted by Hyscience
Posted by Richard at February 24, 2006 12:15 AM
