Al Kresta's Blog, page 344

75% of Those Killed for Religious Hatred Are Christian

GENEVA, Switzerland, MARCH 7, 2011 Zenit.org

Citing a study that found 75 out of every 100 people killed for religious hatred are Christian, the Vatican's representative at the U.N. offices in Geneva is reiterating that freedom of religion is at the heart of fundamental human rights.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent representative of the Holy See to the U.N. offices in Geneva, affirmed this last Wednesday when he addressed the 16th ordinary session of the Human Rights Council on religious freedom.

He said that an "increased proliferation of episodes of discrimination and acts of violence" shows how principles proclaimed in law are being denied in practice.

And religious strife, the archbishop warned, "is a danger to social, political, and economic development. Religious conflict polarizes society, breaking the bonds necessary for social life and commerce to flourish. It produces violence, which robs people of the most fundamental right of all, the right to life. And it sows seeds of distrust and bitterness that can be passed down through the generations."

Referring to the frequency with which Christians are the target of religious hatred (75 out of 100 people killed), the prelate asserted that such a "concentration of religious discrimination should cause concern to all of us."

"But," he added, "the Holy See's purpose in this intervention is to reaffirm the importance of the right to freedom of religion for all individuals, for all communities of faith, and for every society, in all parts of the world."

Duties

Archbishop Tomasi went on to speak of the state's duty to defend freedom of religion and "therefore the responsibility to create an environment where this right can be enjoyed."

There are various duties within this responsibility, he said, including avoiding any religious discrimination, promoting religious tolerance, supporting dialogue initiatives, enforcing laws that fight against religious discrimination, and providing physical security to religious communities under attack.

"Freedom of religion is a value for society as a whole," the Vatican representative affirmed. "The state that protects this right enables society to benefit from the social consequences that come with it: peaceful coexistence, national integration in today's pluralistic situations, increased creativity as the talents of everyone are placed at the service of the common good. On the other hand, the negation of religious freedom undermines any democratic aspiration, favors oppression, and stifles the whole society that eventually explodes with tragic results."

Understanding

The 70-year-old prelate also called attention to false perceptions regarding religious freedom. He named three.

"[T]he right to express or practice one's religion is not limited to acts of worship," he clarified, adding that services such as health care and education provided through religious institutions are important.

The second misperception regards holding offices or positions of authority: "[F]aith communities have their own rules for qualifications for religious office, and for serving in religious institutions, including charitable facilities. These religious institutions are part of civil society, and not branches of the state. Consequently, the limits that international human rights law places on states regarding qualifications on state office holding and public service do not apply automatically to non-state actors. [...] Religious tolerance includes respecting differences of opinions in these matters, and respecting the difference between a state and a religious institution."

Lastly, Archbishop Tomasi pointed to a "fear that respecting the freedom to choose and practice another religion, different from one's own, is based on a premise that all truth is relative and that one's religion is no longer absolutely valid."

"That is a misunderstanding," he explained. "The right to adopt, and to change, a religion is based on respect for human dignity: the state must allow each person to freely search for the truth."

Pope Benedict XVI's Lenten Message

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due diligence. As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of Lent).

1. This very life was already bestowed upon us on the day of our Baptism, when we "become sharers in Christ's death and Resurrection", and there began for us "the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples" (Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10 January, 2010). In his Letters, St. Paul repeatedly insists on the singular communion with the Son of God that this washing brings about. The fact that, in most cases, Baptism is received in infancy highlights how it is a gift of God: no one earns eternal life through their own efforts. The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at the same time, allows us to experience in our lives "the mind of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2: 5), is given to men and women freely. The Apostle to the Gentiles, in the Letter to the Philippians, expresses the meaning of the transformation that takes place through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, pointing to its goal: that "I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead" (Phil 3: 10-11). Hence, Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ.

A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent as the favorable time to experience this saving Grace. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council exhorted all of the Church's Pastors to make greater use "of the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 109). In fact, the Church has always associated the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism: this Sacrament realizes the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rm 8: 11). This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path like that of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early Church, just as for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school of faith and Christian life. Truly, they live their Baptism as an act that shapes their entire existence.

2. In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord – the most joyous and solemn feast of the entire liturgical year – what could be more appropriate than allowing ourselves to be guided by the Word of God? For this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent, leads us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, calling us to retrace the steps of Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for receiving the Sacrament of rebirth; for the baptized, in light of the new and decisive steps to be taken in the sequela Christi and a fuller giving of oneself to him.

The First Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as human beings here on earth. The victorious battle against temptation, the starting point of Jesus' mission, is an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength in Christ – the way, the truth and the life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, n. 25). It is a powerful reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of Jesus and in union with him, a battle "against the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world" (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at work and never tires – even today – of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide us in overcoming the seductions of evil.

The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man. The Christian community becomes aware that Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John "up a high mountain by themselves" (Mt 17: 1), to receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in the Son, the gift of the Grace of God: "This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him" (Mt 17: 5). It is the invitation to take a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order to immerse oneself in God's presence. He desires to hand down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil (cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.

The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman: "Give me a drink" (Jn 4: 7), is presented to us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses the passion of God for every man and woman, and wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of "a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life" (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into "true worshipers," capable of praying to the Father "in spirit and truth" (Jn 4: 23). Only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it "finds rest in God", as per the famous words of St. Augustine.

The Sunday of the man born blind presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us with the question: "Do you believe in the Son of man?" "Lord, I believe!" (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers. The miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as "children of the light".

On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: "I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?" (Jn 11: 25-26). For the Christian community, it is the moment to place with sincerity – together with Martha – all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world" (Jn 11: 27). Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.

The Lenten journey finds its fulfillment in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil of the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we reaffirm that Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of "water and Holy Spirit", and we profess again our firm commitment to respond to the action of the Grace in order to be his disciples.

3. By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the "world" that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor. In Christ, God revealed himself as Love (cf. 1Jn 4: 7-10). The Cross of Christ, the "word of the Cross", manifests God's saving power (cf. 1Cor 1: 18), that is given to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation: it is love in its most extreme form (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, n. 12). Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way. Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of deprivation – and not just what is in excess – we learn to look away from our "ego", to discover Someone close to us and to recognize God in the face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians, fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our neighbor (cf. Mk 12: 31).

In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that undermine God's primacy in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church, especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practice almsgiving – which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods, on the other hand, not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life. How can we understand God's paternal goodness, if our heart is full of egoism and our own projects, deceiving us that our future is guaranteed? The temptation is to think, just like the rich man in the parable: "My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come…". We are all aware of the Lord's judgment: "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul…" (Lk 12: 19-20). The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God's primacy and turns our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is, and receive his mercy.

During the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God's Word with particular abundance. By meditating and internalizing the Word in order to live it every day, we learn a precious and irreplaceable form of prayer; by attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism. Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of time: without the perspective of eternity and transcendence, in fact, time simply directs our steps towards a horizon without a future. Instead, when we pray, we find time for God, to understand that his "words will not pass away" (cf. Mk 13: 31), to enter into that intimate communion with Him "that no one shall take from you" (Jn 16: 22), opening us to the hope that does not disappoint, eternal life.

In synthesis, the Lenten journey, in which we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross, is meant to reproduce within us "the pattern of his death" (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deep conversion in our lives; that we may be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, like St. Paul on the road to Damascus; that we may firmly orient our existence according to the will of God; that we may be freed of our egoism, overcoming the instinct to dominate others and opening us to the love of Christ. The Lenten period is a favorable time to recognize our weakness and to accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the renewing Grace of the Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely towards Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions. What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called to experience every day by following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner. In this our itinerary, let us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, who generated the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, so that we may immerse ourselves – just as she did – in the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus, and possess eternal life.

Abusive priests live unmonitored?

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
The Associated Press
Monday, March 7, 2011

LOS ANGELES -- The charges of child molestation came too long after the abuse to send Carl Sutphin, a Roman Catholic priest, to prison. Now he is spending his days in a doublewide mobile home, a short walk from day care centers and two elementary schools.

"I won't say I deny it. I do not deny it, no," Sutphin, 78, said in a frail voice as he leaned on his walker.

There are dozens of accused priests like him, from California to Maryland. To victims' advocates, that is dangerous.

They say church officials should monitor them in the same way that police track sex offenders and that the church should create special housing to keep predator priests away from children.

"Essentially, you have admitted or credibly accused child molesters walking free among unsuspecting families - and bishops are doing little or nothing," said David Clohessy, national director for Survivors of those Abused by Priests.

Advocates' calls raise questions about how far the church can go in monitoring people who have never been convicted, or even charged with a crime.

Plaintiffs' attorneys in Los Angeles worked with private investigators since October to compile a list of the priests' addresses, the most comprehensive accounting of the whereabouts of more than 200 clergy accused of abuse in civil lawsuits in that archdiocese.

They hope to use it Thursday to persuade a judge to recommend the release of all church files for every priest or religious brother ever accused of sexual abuse in the sweeping litigation.

Those confidential files are at the center of a heated dispute that has raged between the church and plaintiffs' lawyers since the nation's largest archdiocese reached a record-breaking $660 million settlement nearly four years ago.

Plaintiffs want the files - which could include internal correspondence, previous complaints and therapy records - released, saying it's a matter of public safety. The church is pushing for a more limited release of information.

The list of addresses, obtained by The Associated Press, contains nearly 50 former priests and religious brothers from the LA archdiocese who live and work in 37 towns and cities across California, unsupervised by law enforcement or the church.

Another 15 are scattered in cities and towns from Montana to New York, while 80 more cannot be located despite an exhaustive search by attorneys representing those who have sued them for abuse.

The vast majority of the men have not been convicted - in some cases because the charges came too late - and are therefore not required to register with state sex offender databases.

It's a situation that has long bothered alleged victims of sex abuse, who have called on the church to do more to monitor former priests even after they have been expelled from ministry or have been laicized.

In Los Angeles, the archdiocese listed 211 names of credibly accused priests - a term the church uses to describe allegations that it believes are likely to be true - or those who had been named in civil lawsuits in a 2004 report to parishioners about clergy abuse.

The list did not include the priests' past assignments or current whereabouts.

Twenty-three other dioceses nationwide have published similar lists, but don't list current addresses, Clohessy said.

Like Los Angeles, victim advocates in Boston have also complained that the archdiocese there has not done enough to inform the public about priests who were accused of abuse but never charged criminally.

In January, Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for Boston-area clergy sex abuse victims, released a new list of accused abusers, including previously undisclosed names of 19 Catholic priests, brothers and one deacon. They were among those accused in hundreds of cases his law firm settled with the church over the last 15 years, Garabedian said.

At the time, the archdiocese was working to disclose more information, but was concerned about giving priests whose guilt had not been established their due process, said Kelly Lynch, a spokeswoman for the Boston archdiocese.

Alleged victims, including those in Clohessy's organization, have nevertheless pressed the church to create special, church-controlled housing for credibly accused priests so they can be monitored - even without convictions.

"Bishops want to do the absolute bare minimum with predator priests, so they suspend them on the advice of defense lawyers and insurance companies and that's it, the priests are free to live and sometimes work and sometimes volunteer wherever they want," Clohessy said.

Church officials say it's not fair to expect them to monitor the priests, especially those who are no longer in active ministry.

The archdiocese policy has been to remove any credibly accused priest, said Michael Hennigan, archdiocese attorney. Most of those men have been laicized, are in the process of being laicized or have been removed from public ministry, he said.

Laicization is the Vatican process for ousting a man from the priesthood. Local bishops can also bar an abusive cleric from public ministry, which means the clergyman technically remains a priest but cannot participate in any public church work, such as celebrating Mass in public.

The archdiocese has no more responsibility for a laicized priest than a local school district would have for tracking a teacher who was fired with cause, Hennigan said.

He dismissed the idea of church-run housing for accused priests and religious brothers as impractical and unenforceable.

"We obviously don't have a police force and our mission has been to cleanse the priesthood, and we think we've done that effectively and well," he said Monday. "You think we should have a police force or a prison system?

"Once they're out, it's up to civil authorities to deal with them on behalf of society. It's really too much to ask the church to institute a prison system and no one could be forced to comply with it except voluntarily."

Attorneys representing individual accused priests in California point out that most of their clients have not been charged or convicted.

"What about those who've only been accused?" said Donald Steier, who is representing about 30 individual Los Angeles priests. "Should those guys ... be treated more harshly than anyone else simply because they wore a collar?"

The idea of a church-controlled environment for problem priests not new.

In the early 1960s, the head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in treating molester priests wanted to buy an island to segregate them. He even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island for that purpose, the AP has previously reported.

"It is for this class of rattlesnake I have always wished an island retreat, but even an island is too good for these vipers," Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald wrote to an acquaintance in 1957, according to the correspondence.

In 1960, Fitzgerald sent two priests from the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete to the island of Tortola to investigate the location - but his dream of an island monastery dedicated to trouble priests ended.

The new archbishop of Santa Fe overruled him, according to an affidavit by his successor, the Rev. Joseph McNamara.

Sutphin is one former priest whose presence in society continues to haunt his many alleged victims.

He was accused of abuse by 18 people and was charged with 14 counts of molestation in 2003 for sexually abusing six boys. The charges were dismissed, however, because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that set limits on the passage of time for prosecuting certain types of sex crimes.

One of the priest's alleged victims said he and his brother were abused by Sutphin the night before a fishing trip when they were in middle school. The brothers have never fully discussed the abuse and didn't tell their parents for years.

"My mom wrote a letter to the Catholic Church," said the man, who was granted anonymity because the AP does not typically name people who claim to be victims of sexual abuse. "They said they had addressed the issue and he would no longer come around."

The man, now 44, learned of Sutphin's address from the AP. He lives three miles away.

Pope Benedict XVI will make history with a TV audience Q&A

Outrageous Statement of the Day

Matt Lauer to Rick Santorum: Do You Really Think People Care About Social Issues Right Now?

NBC's Matt Lauer didn't exactly throw out the welcome mat for possible presidential GOP contender Rick Santorum as, on this morning's "Today Show," he questioned the former Republican Pennsylvania senator if his "ultra-conservative" stance on social issues is "the message people want to hear right now?"

Cartoon of the Day - March Madness

Today on Kresta - March 8, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on March 8

4:00 – Preparing for Lent
As we prepare for the start of Lent tomorrow with Ash Wednesday, our chaplain, Fr. Pat Egan , is here to discuss how to get the most out of this season of the Church. This season is about conversion, which Blessed John Paul II defines as "accepting as a personal decision, the saving sovereignty of Christ and becoming His disciple." Are you ready?

4:20 –The Importance of Catholic Media in the Age of Celebrity Culture
Breaking News Alert: Charlie Sheen is Fired. Special Report: Lindsey Lohan is Back in Court. This Just In: Jersey Shore Celeb Snooki Disses Co-Star. Really? Is this what culture in America has come to? And even more depressing, is this what mainstream NEWS has come to? Al discusses the importance of Catholic Media in the age of a celebrity culture.

4:40 – Gardens for the Greater Glory of God
Celtic Gardens is a highly-acclaimed garden design and build firm specializing in beautiful, imaginative, and original gardens designed to complement their settings and realize their owners' dreams. What is unique about Celtic Gardens is that owner John Cullen does not shy away from his Catholic faith when designing his show gardens. They have won international awards for gardens designed in honor of Our Lady, a Catholic community in Ireland, and will be recently presented a St. Francis Garden. John is here to explain his work.

5:00 – The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity
Arguing that many moms have gone overboard in their quest for perfection, Dr. Meg Meeker , pediatrician and mother of four, presents 10 "new habits" that will help moms maintain their passion, purpose, and sanity. Meeker addresses understanding your value as a mother, maintaining key friendships, valuing and practicing faith, saying no to competition, creating a healthier relationship with money, making time for solitude, giving and getting love in healthy ways, finding ways to live simply, letting go of fear, and embracing hope. Meg is with us.

5:30 – Finance Friday – On a Tuesday: The Housing Boom and Bust
Today we continue our series intended to fully explore the practical, political, moral and philosophical underpinnings of the financial meltdown of 2008. Our guide will be Dr. Max Torres and we will be using as a base of discussion, one book written on an aspect of the financial crisis. Today, we look at Thomas Sowell's The Housing Boom and Bust.

Pope to visit Ireland next year?

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Ireland in 2012, according to media reports in that country.

The Vatican has made no announcement about a papal trip to Ireland, but Irish government officials have indicated that they hope for a papal visit. The Pontiff has received formal invitations from both the government and the Irish hierarchy.

The Pope's trip would reportedly be timed for the conclusion of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June 2012. He is also expected to visit Northern Ireland, becoming the first Roman Pontiff to do so.

Pakistan: another man killed after acquittal on blasphemy charge

Muhammad Imran, a man charged with blasphemy in April 2009 and later released for lack of evidence, was gunned down in the Danada, a village near Rawalpindi. He had been accused of making insulting remarks about Prophet Mohammed during a discussion in a village cafe. However, he and another defendant were eventually set free by a court order after prosecution failed to produce evidence.

Imran was in a shop when two attackers came in and shot him dead. A third accomplice stayed outside. According to the victim's brother Muhammad Akramm, Imran was killed by the same man from a nearby village who had originally accused him of blasphemy.

The murder comes two days after Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was killed by militants for opposing the controversial blasphemy law. The Minority Affairs minister was laid to rest yesterday next to his father's grave in the village of Khushpur in a ceremony attended by more than 15,000 people.

"We will continue Shahbaz Bhattit`s struggle for minority rights," said Pervaiz Rafique, a leader of the All Pakistan Minority Assembly (APMA).

"Extremists can kill a person, not his thoughts. Shahbaz Bhatti wanted Pakistan to become Quaid-e-Azam`s Pakistan, we will carry on his mission," he added. Quaid-e-Azam or Father of Nation refers to Ali Jinnah, founder of modern Pakistan.

Police have arrested 15 people in connection with Bhatti's murder. Police also said that it would interrogate Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

Every aspect of the case is under investigation. Eyewitness accounts and the testimony of Bhatti's driver present different aspects, said IG Islamabad Police Wajid Durrani.

The Russian Orthodox Church has joined the chorus of condolences sent to Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for Shahbaz Bhatti's assassination.

"Many Christian Churches" were "encouraged by the appointment of Mr. Bhatti" to the "cabinet [. . .]. As a politician, he managed to do a lot" to reduce "religious tension in Pakistani society and courageously spoke out against initiatives of religious extremists," said Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations.

This crime "is not the only act of violence against Christians in Pakistan. Neither simple believers, nor high-ranking officials are [. . .] protected today from aggression on the part of people who disguise their evil deeds under religious convictions."

Pope remembers murdered Pakistani Catholic politician and prays for Libya