Sir, – Joseph Bergin’s letter (June 15th) in response to Thomas Ryan’s (June 13th) cannot be allowed to go unanswered.
In talking about the separation of church and state he compares Britain to Iran “where Ayatollah Khamenei is the supreme leader”.
Mr Bergin would do well to reflect on the case of Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor from Rasht in northern Iran. In November 2010, Youcef was sentenced to death by hanging for the crime of apostasy (the renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, a person’s former religion). The Iranian courts have signed an execution order for Youcef and it is not currently known if an appeal will be allowed.
There are many such situations in Iran – to compare that country to Britain where there is complete freedom of religion is quite simply ludicrous and ill-informed. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Joseph Bergin (June 15th) suggests that it is a problem if any head of state is a religious leader. He could only recall Iran and Britain as examples.
The Vatican should have crossed his mind too. The full military honours accorded to Pope John Paul II on arrival and departure here were due to his being a head of State, not a religious leader. – Yours, etc,