Vatican Cardinal urges Pakistan to release Asia Bibi

February 08, 2013 - A high-ranking Vatican cardinal has written to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari asking for the release of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death under the country’s controversial blasphemy law. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, vice dean of the College of Cardinals, called for a “gesture of clemency” for the 42-year old Bibi, who was sentenced in 2009 and has been jailed ever since. He said Zardari’s pardon of Bibi would have “an enormous significance and would greatly promote dialogue and reconciliation between Muslims and Christians.” He said that ever since he helped organize the historic inter-religious meeting for peace in Assisi, Italy, in October, 1986, he has always worked to help Christians and Muslims live together as brothers. “We can’t continue ignoring each other or, worse, fighting each other,” Cardinal Etchegaray wrote in the letter. The letter from the French cardinal is the latest appeal from the international community on behalf of Bibi, whose story has captured headlines since her detention and brought further scrutiny on Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation, which rights groups say is often used unjustly to settle political scores or target religious minorities.