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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Italy_______________
200 million Christians face oppression
Thousands die in religious fighting
The persecution of Christians is becoming more common around the world—even in countries that once enjoyed a measure of religious freedom—and 200 million people are now suffering for the faith, according to the director of Aid to the Church in Need.
Attilio Tamburini, the head of the worldwide relief organization, spoke in April to the Italian daily La Stampa about his organization’s annual report, which provided a summary of the acts of intolerance, discrimination, and persecution that Christians endure in different countries.
In the year 2000 alone, the report indicates, 165,000 Christians died because of religious or ethnic clashes: in Sudan, Indonesia, East Timor, India, and Egypt. But Tamburini observed that while most of the deaths occurred in Third World countries, new forms of religious discrimination were arising in countries such as France, where new legislation against “sects” has prompted protests from Catholic, Jewish, and Evangelical leaders.
Tamburini suggested that the UN should create a new position: a permanent observer to monitor the state of religious freedom throughout the world. Citing the Pope, he remarked that “religious freedom is not a subject that concerns any particular confession, but a natural right that applies to all men.”
Cloning defended
Researcher scolds Church for opposition
An Italian doctor who wants to be the first to clone a human being defended his decision and attacked Vatican criticism as a “new Inquisition” directed against the world of science.
“I haven’t committed any crime,” Dr. Severino Antinori told reporters before a closed meeting at the Rome Medical Association headquarters. “To think and do research is still not forbidden.” Antinori had announced that he and a team of doctors are planning to clone a human being within a matter of weeks, in a European country that does not yet have a ban on the practice.
Responding to criticism of his plan by the Catholic Church, Antinori said, “We seem to have returned to the old times of the Inquisition.” He added, “We are working for humanity to help man, not to create anything negative.”
While other doctors and scientists have distanced themselves from Antinori’s plan, he said his meeting with the Rome Medical Association was not intended to deter him. “Let’s be clear. This was a meeting only to understand what I am doing and in no way is it any kind of judgment,” he said.