Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace and a senior priest of the Catholic Church in Pakistan has demanded withdrawal of statement by Interior Minister Rehman Malik drawing a parallel between the Holy Father and Dr Tahirul Qadri.
Mani called the remark unnecessary and provocative as there was no comparison or link between the two personalities. “While Pope (Benedict XVI) is an undisputed leader of the Catholic Church, the largest faith group in the world, the credentials of Dr Qadri are prerogative of Pakistanis and Muslims to ascertain. On the other hand, the Pope has neither a political role nor ambitions in the 21st century states.”
“We, as the Pakistan’s Christian community, feel deeply angered by such statements maligning the office and the position of Papacy. We demand an apology from Rehman Malik, who is otherwise assigned a responsible task and request him to avoid any such remarks in the future. We also appeal to all leaders to keep the dissent and political battles within the limits of decency because uncanny remarks do not reflect the better part of democratic culture,” he said.