Christian churches to work for code on conversion
By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Council of Churches (WCC), which
groups Protestant and Orthodox believers, said on Monday it was
launching a joint effort with the Vatican to shape a code of
conduct on religious conversion.
And a senior WCC official said it was hoped that the essentially
intra-Christian project would spark discussion on the issue among
Muslims -- who take a stern view of people leaving the faith -- and
among followers of other religions.
"We hope to produce a code that will ensure that believers
commitment to their faith never translates into denigration of
another," said Hans Ucko, head of the 348-member WCC's Office on
Inter-religious Relations and Dialogue.
The initiative, billed as a three-year study project, will be
joined on the Catholic side by the Pontifical Council for
Inter-religious Dialogue, which hosts a first, four-day, meeting in
Rome from Wednesday.
Ucko told Reuters the idea of rules on proselytising had arisen
several years ago during regular contacts between the Geneva-based
WCC and the Vatican after methods used by Christian missionaries in
India had caused problems for local Christians.
But he said it was not linked to a recent high-profile controversy
involving many Western political and church leaders, including Pope
Benedict, in defending a 40-year-old Afghan facing a death sentence
in Kabul for converting to Christianity.
The man, Abdur Rahman, was freed from jail to condemnation from
many Muslim clerics after intervention by Western-backed President
Hamid Karzai, and now lives in Italy.
CRUSADING
"This is basically an intra-Christian project, a dialogue between
Christians, because although some take a low-key approach others
embark on what can be seen as crusading which offends people of
other religions," said Ucko.
There had been examples of this in Sri Lanka after the tsunami
tidal wave of December 2004 when a drive by foreign missionaries to
win converts among local Buddhists led to attacks on
long-established local Christians, he added.
But Christians were not alone in active proselytising. "In some
parts of the world, Muslims also work to make non-Muslims embrace
Islam," said Ucko.
The Rome meeting this week would be attended by representatives of
other faiths, including Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and
indigenous religious traditions. Muslim contacts had expressed
interest in the project, Ucko said.
Many Muslim scholars equate "apostasy" -- or leaving the faith --
with treason in secular societies, arguing that Islam is a state as
well as religious structure. In many Islamic countries, including
Iran, apostates can be put to death.
"The issue also touches on religious freedom," said Ucko. "In the
world we live in today, changing one's religion should not be seen
as a betrayal of Islam or of any other faith."
