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Archbishop of Canterbury endorses call for Sudan death sentence to be dropped
Justin Welby says he "wholeheartedly" endorses a call from the Christian Muslim Forum for the death sentence against Mariam Yahya to be dropped
LAMBETH PALACE
http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/
24th May 2014
Archbishop Justin Welby, who is Patron of the Christian Muslim Forum, has spoken in support of a statement from the Christian Muslim Forum about the death sentence passed in Sudan on Mariam Yahya, a Christian woman who is pregnant with her second child.
The Archbishop said: "The Christian Muslim Forum brings together both leaders and scholars from the range of Muslim and Christian communities in this country. This statement therefore has weight and deserves to be widely shared. I wholeheartedly endorse this call from the Christian Muslim Forum for the death sentence against Mariam Yahya to be dropped."
The statement can be read in full here:
As the Co-Chairs of the Christian Muslim Forum we call for compassion in this situation and for the death sentence against Mariam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag to be dropped.
Our religions tell us that human interactions should be shaped by compassion and humanity, not by death sentences. It is vital that all people should enjoy freedom of conscience and be able to follow their own religion, as we have already highlighted in our Ethical Witness Guidelines. Christians and Muslims should be able to coexist alongside each other, we emphasise that force and compulsion are not characteristics of either faith.
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Bishop Paul Hendricks (Co-Chairs, Christian Muslim Forum)
