Bishop John Ricard, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ International Policy Committee, said: «The success of efforts to build a democratic, pluralistic and prosperous Iraq will depend on respecting the fact that Islam is the religion of the majority of Iraqis, while ensuring that full religious freedom for all, including minorities, is fully guaranteed.»
«If Islam is the official religion of the state, however, or, if Islam is the source for secular laws, as some propose, the religious freedom of minorities could be seriously circumscribed,» Bishop Ricard said in a statement released today.
He emphasized that «religious liberty includes a panoply of rights; it cannot be limited to ‘the freedom to practice religious rites’ or ‘the freedom to worship.'»
«Religious freedom,» Bishop Ricard explained, «applies both to religious bodies, such as the Shia, the Sunni and the Chaldean or Assyrian rites, and to individuals. If the law grants only group rights, it could open the possibility that the rights of individuals could be suppressed based on their religious beliefs or practices.»
