Christians face whipping for drinking communion wine
Men arrested in crackdown on church service in Iran.
 |
The four men were charged in court with drinking alcohol and
possessing a receiver and satellite antenna in Rasht, a city 200 miles
northwest of Tehran, on Oct. 6. The verdict was delivered to the men
Oct. 20, and they have been given ten days to appeal the sentence, the
group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports.
Iran is an Islamic Republic, and Islam forbids the consumption of
alcohol. Non-Muslims account for less than one percent of Iran's
population.
The charged men are members of the Church of Iran, a Protestant
ecclesial community. Two of the men were arrested Dec. 31, 2012, during
the government’s crackdown on house churches.
Mervyn Thomas, head of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, criticized the sentence.
“The sentences handed down to these members of the Church of Iran
effectively criminalize the Christian sacrament of sharing in the Lord’s
Supper and constitute an unacceptable infringement on the right to
practice faith freely and peaceably,” he said Oct. 23.
He urged the Iranian authorities to ensure Iran’s laws do not
violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to
which Iran is a signatory. He said the government should guarantee “the
full enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief by all its religious
communities.”
Source: Catholic News Agency
No comments:
Post a Comment