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Source: www.assistnews.net Date: September 23, 2007
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
 | | Pope Benedict XVI | VATICAN CITY (ANS) -- The Pope has again risked provoking the wrath of the Islamic world, by criticizing its treatment of Christians.
Simon Caldwell, writing in the British Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk), said, "Benedict XVI attacked Muslim nations where Christians are either persecuted or given the status of second-class citizens under the Shariah Islamic law. "He also defended the rights of Muslims to convert to Christianity, an act which warrants the death penalty in many Islamic countries. "His comments came almost exactly a year after he provoked a wave of anger among Muslims by quoting a Byzantine emperor who linked Islam to violence." The 80-year-old pontiff made a speech on Friday (September 21), near Rome in "defense of religious liberty," which, he said "is a fundamental, irrepressible, inalienable and inviolable right." In a clear reference to Islam, he said: "The exercise of this freedom also includes the right to change religion, which should be guaranteed not only legally, but also in daily practice." Addressing the problem of Islamic extremism, he added: "Terrorism is a serious problem whose perpetrators often claim to act in God's name and harbor an inexcusable contempt for human life."  | The Bishop of Rochester,
Michael Nazir-Ali | Last September, radical British Muslims said Pope Benedict should be executed for "insulting" the Prophet Mohammed. Caldwell went on to say, "Throughout the Middle East and Africa, Christians were subjected to violence in retribution for his remarks. "His latest comments, however, come just days after one of the Church of England's-senior bishops warned that Muslim leaders here [in the UK] must speak out in defense of the right to change faith." The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, told Channel 4's Dispatches programme of his fears for the safety of the estimated 3,000 Muslims who have converted to other faiths in Great Britain. (Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, is the 106th and current Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England. He holds dual Pakistani and British citizenship.) Caldwell concluded, "A poll earlier this year of more than 1,000 young adult British Muslims found that 36 per cent believe those who convert to another faith should be punished by death. "Pope Benedict is particularly concerned about the persecution of Christians in Iraq since the invasion of 2003. "Before then, there were about 1.2million Christians in the country. But the number has dropped to below 600,000."
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