Friday, April 08, 2011

Archbishop decries Qur’an burning and protests

The Church's most senior clergyman in in Pakistan has called for the arrest of the US pastor whose decision to burn the Qur’an triggered protests resulting in the deaths of at least 24 people in Afghanistan.

Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore condemned the recent desecration of the Qur’an carried out by Pastor Wayne Sapp under the supervision of Pastor Terry Jones.
“The US government should detain the pastor for some time,” the archbishop, who is soon to retire as president of the Catholic Bishops’ in the country, told charity Aid to the Church in Need.

“In view of the effects his actions have had all over the world, he should be controlled and understand the harm that has been done.”

Protests have been held in many parts of the Muslim world since the Qur’an burning took place at the Dove World Outreach Centre in Florida on March 20.

In Afghanistan, an attack on a UN base on last Friday in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif killed 14 people, seven of them US staff.

The following day at least 10 people were killed in the southern city of Kandahar.

In Pakistan and the Qur’an-burning has been linked to attacks on three churches across the country, which is home to 2.5 million Christians.

Archbishop Saldanha added: “The US government talks about religious freedom—but we call upon the US government to prevent such actions by extremists and other fundamentalist Christians.”

The archbishop questioned reports from Pakistan linking unrest sparked by the Qur’an-burning to recent attacks on three churches but stressed the strength of feeling expressed by Muslims who have protested across the country.

“Although there have not been any reactions against Christians, it could become ugly,” he said.

In a statement on the incident released on Saturday, President Barak Obama said: “The desecration of any holy text, including the Qur’an is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry.

“However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous and an affront to human decency and dignity.”