The Catholic Church in Pakistan has demanded an apology from Interior Minister Rehman Malik for drawing a parallel between the Holy Father and Dr Tahirul Qadri.

In a statement on Thursday, Senior Priest of the Catholic Church in Pakistan Fr Emmanuel Yousaf Mani demanded that Rehman Malik should immediately withdraw unnecessary and provocative remarks.

“There is no comparison or link between the two personalities. While Pope (Benedict XVI) is an undisputed leader of the Catholic Church, the largest faith group in the world, the credentials of Dr Qadri are prerogative of Pakistanis and Muslims to ascertain. On the other hand the Pope has neither a political role nor ambitions in the 21st century states,” said Fr Emmanuel Yousaf who is also a director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace.

“We as a Christian community of Pakistan feel deeply angered by such statements maligning the office and the position of Papacy. We demand an apology from Rehman Malik, who is otherwise assigned a responsible task and request him to avoid any such remarks in the future.

We also appeal to all leaders to keep the dissent and political battles within the limits of decency because uncanny remarks do not reflect the better part of democratic culture.

The religious minorities have always stood with the movements for democracy and human rights and will always strive to work for democracy and justice in Pakistan,” said the statement.