Vatican agency concerned about Afghanistan's draft constitution

Published: 2003-11-11

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Afghanistan's draft constitution would declare the country an Islamic state and curtail freedoms of other religions, a Vatican agency said. The constitution, unveiled in early November, does not provide much more religious freedom than the policies of the previous Taliban government, said a Nov. 10 article published by Fides, the Vatican's missionary news service. "The hope is that in this discussion phase of the constitution, Western diplomats can exert pressure and ask that authentic freedom of religion be recognized in the new Afghanistan," the agency said. The constitution, which will be debated in the Afghan Parliament Dec. 10, establishes Islam as the state religion but says that other religions would have freedom of worship. Father Giuseppe Moretti, who heads the church's missionary jurisdiction in Afghanistan, told Fides that "it remains to be seen what is meant by freedom of worship -- whether the interpretation will be restrictive or whether, for example, authorities would allow the construction of a church outside an embassy compound."

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