The Archbishop of Lahore, Lawrence Saldanha, has made an appeal to the U.S. government to detain the pastor responsible for allowing the burning of a Koran in his church, reports the Catholic News Agency.
“The U.S. government talks about religious freedom – but we call upon the U.S. government to prevent such actions by extremists and other fundamentalist Christians,” the president of the Pakistan bishops’ conference said.
“The U.S. government should detain the pastor for some time,” the archbishop added. “In view of the effects his actions have had all over the world, he should be controlled and understand the harm that has been done.”
On March 20, pastor Terry Jones of a Florida-based church called the Dove World Outreach Center supervised the burning of the Koran in front of about 50 people, after the Islamic holy book was put through a mock trial and sentenced.
While U.S. press tried to keep the story low-profile, a video was posted on the church’s website that went international and enraged Muslims all over the world. Violent protests in Afghanistan led to the deaths of at least 24 people, including seven U.N. staff.
Pastor Jones has refused to accept any responsibility for these deaths, in fact, he has justified them by saying the Koran deserved to be placed ‘on trial’ because if taken literally, the book can “lead to violence and terrorist activities, [do] promote racism or prejudice against minorities, against Christians, against women.”
Archbishop Saldanha feared that Christians in Muslim-dominated countries could be targeted for reprisals.
“Although there have not been any reactions against Christians, it could become ugly,” he lamented.
U.S. President Barack Obama responded to the Koran burning and the subsequent violence by saying:
“The desecration of any holy text, including the Quran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous and an affront to human decency and dignity.”