British Catholic Leader Protests Draft Iraqi Constitution

A top Catholic Church official in Britain, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster and the Head of the Roman Catholic Church of England and Wales, wrote a letter to the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw last Friday complaining that the new draft Iraqi Constitution may be a real threat to religious freedom in Iraq. He cited the controversial Article 2(a) of the draft constitution that provides "no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam". The Christian Post reports today that one problem is the requirement in Islamic law that conversion of Muslims to other religions be prohibited or discouraged.