Friday, January 14, 2005

Religious Freedom Is Not Perfectly Respected in Muslim Country

"A group of deputies, concerned about Turkey's respect for human rights, proposed an amendment asking Ankara to grant legal status immediately to the Christian churches present in the country; to abolish the Religious Affairs Office, a rigid body of control of worship; and to authorize the construction of new buildings."

"This is a serious defect in the area of human rights, particularly in regard to religious freedom," a right "that is the basis of all other rights," he said.

"If there is no respect for the human person's innermost conscience and his capacity to express this faith publicly and communally, namely, in institutions, then truly the other human rights begin to totter," the cardinal said.

"So I think it is very important to make it very clear to Turkey that it must take positive steps in this area and, particularly, in religious freedom, which is not perfectly respected in this state," he added."
Zenit News Agency - The World Seen From Rome

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