Laws must offer protection to all religions, Vatican official says

Published: 2004-12-07

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Fighting discrimination against Jews and Muslims must not come at the expense of protecting the rights of Christians, a top Vatican official told European foreign ministers. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's foreign minister, said discrimination and intolerance must be faced "in an objective and peaceful way." He made his comments Dec. 6 as head of the Holy See's delegation to the annual session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as OSCE, held Dec. 6-7 in Sofia, Bulgaria. A copy of the archbishop's comments was released Dec. 7 at the Vatican. Some 55 countries, including the United States and Canada, are members of the OSCE, which addresses European security issues and crisis management. Archbishop Lajolo told participants, "Christians, who constitute the religious majority in the territory covered by the OSCE, in some countries are also affected by discriminatory norms and behavior."

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