Tanzania: bishop urges government to take action against Islamists
February 28, 2013
Following the murder of a diocesan priest, a Tanzanian bishop has called upon the government to take action against anti-Christian propaganda spread by Muslim fundamentalists.
“The ideology that is disseminated by a few Islamists in Zanzibar asserts that the Islamic majority must not tolerate any other religions,” said Bishop Augustine Shao of Zanzibar, the Tanzanian archipelago that is 99% Muslim and 1% Christian.”
“We have become a target for these fundamentalists,” he told Aid to the Church in Need. “The government must guarantee the security of the people, and especially that of minorities. For too long it has remained silent and allowed propaganda and hatred to be spread against those of other religious persuasions.”
Bishop Shao also noted that “a sheikh who had appealed for moderation was attacked with acid and is now in hospital.”
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Further information:
- Music to promote tolerance, but Christians feel under fire (Fides)
- Christians fearful after priest is killed in Zanzibar (Aid to the Church in Need)
- Zanzibar: priest murdered as violence against Church continues (CWN, 2/19)
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