Israeli Minister Wants Christians to Convert Muslims

THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL (Pakistan), Feb. 9 — The far-right minister of tourism in Ariel Sharon's Likud government of Israel called Feb. 8 for evangelical Christians to try to convert “extremist” Muslims to Christianity, The News International of Pakistan reported.

Minister Benny Elon, who maintains close ties to American-based fundamentalist Christians, said such conversions would help combat terrorism and bolster Israel's security.

“It would be better that these people are converted to Christianity,” he said.

He said these groups should “spread the good word” in Israel so long as they did not evangelize Jews (which can earn missionaries expulsion from the country).

“In the past,” said Elon, who is a rabbi, “I believed that Islam was much closer to Judaism than Christianity, but I have changed my opinion.”

Burundians Capture Alleged Killer of Papal Nuncio

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Feb. 3 — The Burundian army announced Feb. 3 that it had captured 20-year-old Dieudonne Hakizimana, whom it said participated in a Dec. 29 ambush that killed Archbishop Michael Courtney, papal nuncio to Burundi, according to Agence France-Presse.

Army spokesman Major Adolphe Manirakiza said Hakizimana had admitted “he took part in this ambush.”

The suspect is said to be a member of the National Liberation Forces, the last remaining rebel group active in Burundi. He is currently being treated at a hospital for injuries.

Archbishop Decries ‘Anti-Catholic’ Bias at BBC

INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC NEWS, Feb. 4 — Writing to The Glasgow Herald on Feb. 4, Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow criticized the British Broadcasting Corp. for fostering a “tabloid culture” in its reporting of news and showing “gross insensitivity” to British Catholics in its reporting on the Church.

The archbishop called the behavior unworthy of “the world's most distinguished broadcasting organization,” according to Independent Catholic News.

Archbishop Conti cited the BBC's decision to mark the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's pontificate and Mother Teresa's beatification in October with a show called Sex and the Holy City, a documentary that focused on the Church's resistance to using condoms in combating AIDS.

“Such scheduling showed gross insensitivity to the spiritual and historical significance of these moments,” the archbishop wrote.

The archbishop also criticized BBC's plans for “Popetown,” a cartoon that mocks the Pope, and “the hounding of the archbishop of Westminster last year … by the ‘Today’ program and ‘Newsnight,’ a process that seemed to owe more to the desire to claim an eminent scalp than to objective reporting of fact.“

Archbishop Conti pointed to an episode of “Newsnight Scotland,” which carried “a sneering and aggressive interview on the Church's position on shared campus schools, failing to distinguish tabloid fictions from fact. “We do not object to probing questions,” he wrote. “We do object to rudeness and prejudice.”

“We are always keen to ensure that all faiths are reflected across our output and are reported accurately,” a BBC spokesman responded. “If Archbishop Conti wishes to raise any concerns about our output with us, we will be happy to respond to him directly rather than through the press.”