Church appeals for condemned pastor in Iran

(October 19, 2011) A Pakistani prelate has filed a mercy petition for a Christian pastor sentenced to death on charges of apostasy in Iran. Archbishop Emeritus Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore expressed his concern in a letter on Monday to Mashallah Shakeri, the Iranian ambassador in Islamabad. “Christians in Pakistan are very sorry to hear this news,” Archbishop Saldanha, chairman of the Catholic Bishop’s National Commission for Justice and Peace wrote. “We respectfully request you convey to the government of Iran that the basic right of religious freedom, according to the charter of the UN, must be respected. We affirm the right of every person to follow his conscience and practice the religion of his choice,” he said. Youcef Nadarkhani, a pastor who converted from Islam, was arrested in 2009 after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Qu’ran at school. He was charged with apostasy the following year for embracing Christianity and was sentenced to death by hanging. Iran’s Supreme Court has said that Nadarkhani’s sentence may be quashed if he renounces Christianity. However, Nadarkhani, 32, refused to recant his beliefs during his trial last month. Archbishop Saldanha has joined growing global condemnation protesting the sentence against the pastor. “We join the many voices in the international community who are urging the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei to free pastor Nadarkhani on humanitarian grounds,” he said.