The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland has accused the U.K. of
adopting an “anti-Christian foreign policy,” after the government
announced it would double foreign aid to Pakistan without setting any
conditions to help the Islamic country's endangered religious
minorities.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the Archbishop of Edinburgh, said on March 15
that U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague should “obtain guarantees
from foreign governments before they are given aid,” ensuring that
Christians and other religious minorities in countries like Pakistan
would not be deprived of their basic religious rights.
The cardinal made his remarks at the Glasgow launch of a new report
on religious persecution, compiled by the Catholic charity Aid to the
Church in Need.
Their report “Persecuted and Forgotten?” shows that 75
percent of all worldwide anti-religious activity is now directed against
Christians.
These “shocking and saddening” figures, the cardinal said, should
prompt a reconsideration of how the U.K. distributes foreign aid.
Currently, however, no such conditions will accompany the country's
latest contribution of 445 million pounds (over $700 million).
“To increase aid to the Pakistan government when religious freedom is
not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down
is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy,” said Cardinal
O'Brien, in an evident reference to the March 2 murder of Pakistani
religious minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti.
Bhatti, a Catholic who could be declared a martyr, predicted his own
death after dedicating his life to opposing Pakistan's “blasphemy law.”
A
branch of the Pakistani Taliban said they killed him for criticizing
Islam and supporting the law's repeal.
“Here in Scotland,” Cardinal O'Brien noted, “we value our freedoms,
particularly the freedom of religion and the right to practice our faith
free of persecution.”
But this freedom, he said, is far from universal.
“In countries like
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Christians face violence, intolerance
and even death because of their beliefs,” Cardinal O'Brien stated. “This
issue is perhaps the biggest human rights scandal of our generation.”
Iraqi Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, who is visiting the U.K. this
month, welcomed the “Persecuted and Forgotten?” report.
He said it
would contribute to building “international support and solidarity” for
Christians in countries “where our human rights and our religious
freedom have been stripped away.”
“In many countries, like Iraq, the situation for Christians seems to
be worsening, sometimes to the point were we wonder if we will survive
as a people in our own country,” said Archbishop Warda.
“There is no
doubt that the political turmoil and growing nationalist struggles in
Iraq are contributing to the loss of our religious freedoms.”
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, head of the Pakistan bishops'
conference, has previously stated that foreign governments should
demand protection of religious minorities and respect for their rights
as a precondition of foreign aid.
He told CNA on Jan. 6 that it would be
a “very effective” means of getting Pakistan's government to take human
rights concerns seriously.