Scottish Cardinal calls for end to persecution in Pakistan

Cardinal O'Brien

Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, has come out in support of Aid to the Church in Need's petition calling for a change to Pakistan's blasphemy laws which have been cited as the cause of 14 separate attacks on Christians over the last two months.

Speaking on Friday, the Cardinal told Aid to the Church in Need: "I have been aware of the persecution of Christians and those of other faiths in Pakistan and I am only too happy to endorse this petition."

This is not the first time that the cardinal has spoken out in support of Pakistan's Christians. In March, he criticised UK foreign policy, attacking government plans to double aid to Pakistan while failing to step up action to protect the country's Christians and other vulnerable communities.

In less than a week since it was launched, the Aid to the Church in Need petition has so far notched up more than 1,150 signatures in support of persecuted minorities in Pakistan.

The petition will be presented to 10 Downing Street at the climax of a protest march in London on Saturday, 2nd July 2011, organised by the British Pakistani Christian Association. Aid to the Church in Need will be joining other Christian and non-Christian organisations on the march, which will be calling for a change to Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Those taking part in the march will also be asking for protection for religious minorities who are often the victims of violence carried out by those who take the law into their hands and accuse them of blasphemy.

Codes 295B and 295C of the blasphemy laws impose severe penalties for offences against Islam. Anyone desecrating the Qur'an could face a sentence of life imprisonment and insults against the Prophet Mohammed are punishable by execution.

The march begins at 11am at the Pakistani High Commission in Lowndes Square, London, where a copy of the petition will also be submitted.Following speeches by Christian organisations and those of other faiths, the march to 10 Downing Street will then get underway. On arrival, another copy of the petition will be handed in.Among those presenting it in will be Neville Kyrke-Smith, Aid to the Church in Need UK's National Director.

Aid to the Church in Need UK's Head of Press and Information, John Pontifex, who has travelled widely in Pakistan on fact-finding and project-assessment work, is one of the speakers lined up for the day's event. Others giving addresses include Dr Michael Nazir Ali, former Anglican Bishop of Rochester and the Rev Stuart Windsor, National Director of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Source: ACN