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TOMASI-INTOLERANCE Sep-23-2008 (250 words) xxxi
Vatican official urges government to protect religious minorities
By Catholic News Service
GENEVA (CNS) -- Governments must find ways to promote religious tolerance and avoid blasphemy laws that can backfire by targeting religious minorities, said a Vatican official.
The Vatican's representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, said in some countries, religious defamation laws "have been used as weapons against personal enemies or as an excuse to incite mob violence."
"Such actions result in polarizing religious communities rather than in promoting intolerance," he said Sept. 19 at a U.N. Human Rights Council session focusing on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.
Archbishop Tomasi noted that an "intensified expression of religious intolerance" has flared in recent weeks in several parts of the world.
Without specifically citing the recent violence and persecution against Christians in India, Pakistan and Iraq, the archbishop discussed incidents of religiously motivated attacks and killings, the desecration of places of worship and the threats and fears forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
"Impunity for these crimes, as is often the case, gives the message that violent aggression against, and even the physical elimination of, people from a different faith conviction is acceptable," said Archbishop Tomasi.
He said governments should work to promote tolerance through concrete juridical norms, ending discrimination on the state and social level. He also said they should promote better protection of individuals from group violence and should adopt "the practice of reasonable accommodation of religious practice."
Schools, the media and faith communities also play a vital role in fostering mutual understanding and constructive coexistence, he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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