(August 30, 2008) "Christianophobia" is a growing problem around the world and it
must be fought with the same determination as anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, the Vatican
said on Friday. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, spoke
in the wake of attacks against Christians in India that have left at least 13 people
dead this week. Mamberti, addressing a conference in northern Italy, said religious
freedom was a vital part of international relations and human dignity. "In order
to promote this dignity in an integral way, so-called 'Christianophobia' should be
combated as decisively as 'Islamophobia' and anti-Semitism," he said. This week in
eastern India, thousands of people, most of them Christians, have sought shelter in
makeshift government camps, driven from their homes by religious violence. Hindu mobs
burnt more than a dozen churches and attacked Christians after a Hindu leader was
killed. Mamberti said the events in India made the issue of religious liberty today
all the more pressing. While Hindu groups accuse Christian priests of bribing poor
tribes and low-caste Hindus to change their faith, the Christians say lower-caste
Hindus convert willingly to escape a complex caste system. Pope Benedict has condemned
the violence against Christians in Orissa but also deplored the killing of the Hindu
leader. Italy's foreign ministry said it would summon India's ambassador to demand
"incisive action" to prevent further attacks against Christians.