I’m not sure if this will do any good, but I’m glad there is pressure on govt to undo these laws.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/world/europe/11pope.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Pope Urges Blasphemy-Law Repeal
**By THE NEW YORK TIMES**
MILAN — In a forceful appeal for religious freedom, [Pope Benedict XVI](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/benedict_xvi/index.html?inline=nyt-per) urged Pakistan on Monday to repeal contentious blasphemy laws as he called on governments worldwide to do more to enable Christians to practice their faith without violence, intolerance or restriction.
Enlarge This Image
Pool photo by Alessia Pierdomenico
Pope Benedict XVI spoke to diplomats at the Vatican on Monday.
The pope was speaking in an annual address to diplomats accredited to the [Vatican](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church/index.html?inline=nyt-org), a long-scheduled event. But this year his words came after bomb attacks in Iraq and Egypt — the most recent in the Egyptian city of Alexandria less than two weeks ago — and the [assassination last week of a leading Pakistani politician](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/world/asia/05pakistan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Salman%20Taseer&st=cse) who had opposed his country’s law that makes blasphemy against Islam punishable by death.
The politician, Salman Taseer, had campaigned against the law and had petitioned the government to re-examine the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death last November under the legislation.
Mr. Taseer’s “tragic murder,” the pope said, “shows the urgent need to make progress in this direction: the worship of God furthers fraternity and love, not hatred and division.”
Referring to the attacks on Christians in Iraq and Egypt, Benedict called on the governments of those predominantly Muslim countries to adopt “effective measures” to better protect religious minorities. Urging Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy law, the pope said the legislation was being used “as a pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities.”
The pope has often spoken out against religious intolerance, but his condemnations increased after recent attacks on Christian communities in several countries, including Nigeria and the Philippines, where churches were bombed during the recent holidays.
The plight of Christians in the Middle East has been of particular concern to the Vatican, which hosted a meeting of bishops in October to address the issue.
The concerns have deepened in recent months in the face of what clerics see as sustained violence. After a New Year’s Mass at a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 people and wounded nearly 100. In October, a siege at a Baghdad church killed 53 people, prompting yet another exodus of Christians from the country.
On Monday, the pope cited a message to Christians in the Middle East that he delivered during the bishop’s synod in October. “It is natural,” he said, that “they should enjoy all the rights of citizenship, freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom in education, teaching and the use of the mass media.”
The pope also took Western nations to task for marginalizing religion and minimizing its role in contemporary society, and he called for dialogue between faiths to promote “a common commitment to recognizing and promoting the religious freedom of each person and community.”
