Pope’s homage to Pakistan’s Catholic minister slain for advocating minorities’ rights

(January 09, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday paid homage to the memory of slain Pakistani Minister for Minorities, Shabaz Bhatti, appealing for the religious freedom and rights of minorities across the globe. The Pope’s appeal came in his state-of-the-world address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, a traditional papal event in January. The Holy See has diplomatic relations with 179 states. The Pope’s discourse was woven around his message for the Catholic Church’s Jan. 1st World Day of Peace, on the theme, “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace.” The Pope said that an effective educational programme also calls for respect for religious freedom, but all too often “this first of human rights” remains limited or is flouted. “I cannot raise this subject without first paying tribute to the memory of the Pakistani Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, whose untiring battle for the rights of minorities ended in his tragic death,” the Pope said. The Catholic minister was assassinated in March last year for his opposition to Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws that are often abused against minorities. Pope Benedict said this is not “an isolated case.” “In many countries Christians are deprived of fundamental rights and sidelined from public life; in other countries they endure violent attacks against their churches and their homes.” “At times they are forced to leave the countries they have helped to build because of persistent tensions and policies which frequently relegate them to being second-class spectators of national life.” “In other parts of the world, we see policies aimed at marginalizing the role of religion in the life of society, as if it were a cause of intolerance rather than a valued contribution to education in respect for human dignity, justice and peace.” Pope Benedict noted that in the past year religiously motivated terrorism has also reaped numerous victims, especially in Asia and in Africa. The Pontiff also noted that it is mainly the young people who have led the protest movements for reform in North Africa and the Middle East, and he particularly urged for a rapid end to the bloodshed in Syria. Regarding the family as that main agent of educating the young, the Pope called for the promotion of the institution of the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman. In this connection he urged for openness to and respect for human life. Pope Benedict also expressed concern over situations of violence and crisis around the world such as in Nigeria, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Africa’s Great Lakes region, the Horn of Africa, Somalia, and the world’s newest nation, South Sudan. According to the Pope, learning to respect the environment is also an important element of education.