COMBAT PREJUDICE TOWARDS CHRISTIANS AND OTHER BELIEVERS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 14, 2005 (VIS) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) organized an international conference June 8 and 9 in Cordoba, Spain on the theme: "Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance."

  Archbishop Antonio Canizares of Toledo, Spain, head of the Holy See delegation, addressed both the opening session of the conference, as well as in the fifth session which was dedicated to "combating discrimination and intolerance against Christians and members of other religions."

  "The Catholic Church," affirmed Archbishop Canizares in his speech which was made public today, "condemns discrimination and stresses the need to avoid intolerance, which almost always turns into a limitation on rights and liberties and can even go so far as to marginalize and oppress human beings and the communities to which they belong."

  "The Holy See delegation would thus like to underline once more that, in the geographical area covered by this organization, intolerance and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions represent worrying phenomena. And they must be combated with the same determination with which we combat anti-Semitism and discrimination against Muslims. ... It is also necessary to avoid creating a kind of hierarchy of anti-Semitism, discrimination against Muslims and discrimination against Christians."

  The Archbishop of Toledo concluded by expressing the hope that the conference "becomes a propitious occasion for the OSCE to commit itself to establishing effective mechanisms and instruments to combat and contrast prejudice and false representations of Christians and members of other religions in the communications media and in the field of education; and that it encourages the real contribution of Churches and religious communities to the public life of nations."
DELSS/ANTI-SEMITISM:INTOLERANCE/CANIZARES            VIS 20050614 (290)