<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">As +Pierre is the Episcopal Church's representative on NIFCON, forwarding as instructed :<div><br></div><div><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Début du message réexpédié :</div><div><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>De : </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Anglican Communion News Service <<a href="mailto:acnslist@anglicancommunion.org">acnslist@anglicancommunion.org</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Date : </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">20 août 2009 07:48:52 HAE (ÉUA)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>À : </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><a href="mailto:bppwhalon@aol.com">bppwhalon@aol.com</a></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Objet : </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>ACNS4647 Advocacy for Christians in Pakistan</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> </div><div>Advocacy for Christians in Pakistan<br><br>Posted On : August 20, 2009 10:59 AM | Posted By : Admin ACO<br>Related Categories: ACO - NIFCON Pakistan <br><br>ACNS: <a href="http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/8/20/ACNS4647">http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/8/20/ACNS4647</a><br><br>Having listened to the concerns of Christian partners and correspondents<br>in Pakistan, NIFCON (the Network of Inter Faith Concerns for the<br>Anglican Communion) is one of the main sponsors of a petition being<br>drawn up asking the government of Pakistan to repeal the law against<br>blasphemy. In recent years the threat of this law has often been used in<br>unjust attacks upon the country's vulnerable Christian minority, and it<br>seems to have played a part in the recent incident in Gojra which led to<br>the death of a number of Christians.<br><br>The Chair of NIFCON's Management group, the Rt Revd Michael Jackson,<br>Bishop of Clogher, Ireland, who accompanied the Archbishop of Canterbury<br>on a visit to Pakistan in November 2005, commented: 'The advocacy of<br>structural change by people internationally signals an awareness of the<br>seriousness of injustice locally. It also expresses a personal<br>solidarity with those who suffer and recognizes publicly that their cry<br>is heard. I am glad to invite people of good will, especially Anglicans,<br>from all over the world to add their voices in support of our Christian<br>brothers and sisters in Pakistan.' <br><br>The petition is also supported by a number of leading Muslims, in<br>particular Dr Musharraf Hussein, of the Christian-Muslim Forum based in<br>England.<br><br>The petition can be accessed here:<br><a href="http://pakistansignnow.petitionhost.com/">http://pakistansignnow.petitionhost.com/</a><br><br>It is in the form of an open letter to the government and people of<br>Pakistan and states: <br><br>Safety and respect for Christians in Pakistan<br><br>In the past weeks a number of Christians in Pakistan have been murdered<br>by violent mobs stirred up by extremists as part of a pattern of<br>violence that has been intensifying in recent years.<br><br>These killings have been very widely condemned by Christian and Muslim<br>religious leaders around the world and by the Government of Pakistan as<br>well as by many others.<br><br>The attacks have frequently been associated with false accusations of<br>blasphemy or desecration of the Qur'an which have been used to stir up<br>mob violence. The law on blasphemy has provided a ready excuse for those<br>who are motivated to use it for their own ends<br><br>The attacks on Christians, and on occasions also on Muslims, facilitated<br>as they are by the law on blasphemy, are very damaging to the reputation<br>of Pakistan and indeed to the reputation of Muslims which we wish to see<br>restored. Indeed we are convinced that living together peacefully for<br>the good of humanity is the heartfelt desire of people of faith.<br><br>We who sign this letter - Christians, Muslims and people of other<br>religions or none - from many countries including Pakistan, call upon<br>the political and religious leadership of Pakistan to unite in<br>condemning these attacks and murders in the strongest terms as an evil<br>and a crime.<br><br>We urge the Government of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to<br>restore confidence in the police and judiciary by ensuring that those at<br>risk from violence stirred up by extremists are fully protected.<br><br>We also urge Parliamentarians and democratic politicians to act<br>decisively to prevent any misuse of the present law to victimise<br>minorities. Muslims and Christians alike are urging the repeal of this<br>ill-advised law and particularly its sections 295 B and 295C, and its<br>replacement with legislation agreed by the consensus of all faiths which<br>will prevent incitement to religious hatred and the defaming of the<br>prophets and founders of the different faiths.<br><br>We commit ourselves to continue to work together for justice, peace and<br>reconciliation in our own communities.<br><br>The Rt Revd Michael Jackson<br>Chair, Network for Inter Faith Concerns of the Anglican Communion<br><br>Dr Musharraf Hussain<br>Chair, national Christian-Muslim Forum of England<br><br>For more information about the work of NIFCON contact Clare Amos,<br>Director of Theological Studies, at <a href="mailto:clare.amos@anglicancommunion.org">clare.amos@anglicancommunion.org</a> or<br>Suminder Duggal, NIFCON Administrator at<br><a href="mailto:suminder.duggal@anglicancommunion.org">suminder.duggal@anglicancommunion.org</a><br><br>___________________________________________________________________<br>ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is<br>distributed to more than 8,000 journalists and other readers around<br>the world.<br><br>For subscription INFORMATION please go to:<br>http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/help/acnslist.cfm<br><br>To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your address, please click here:<br>http://mh.epicom.org/scripts/c.php?L=acns&E=bppwhalon@aol.com<br><br>For daily updates on local, national and communion-wide news stories<br>please visit the ACNS Digest page:<br>http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm<br><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>