QOM, Iran, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The Roman Catholic Church is called on to condemn the United States for its aggressive behavior in the region, an Iranian ayatollah said.
Iranian Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli said during a meeting in the Iranian holy city of Qom that the Vatican should weigh in on crimes committed by U.S.-led forces in the region.
"Look to Iran's east; people are killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan every day," he told visiting Vatican delegates. "Look to the West; terror and killings continue daily in Iraq. Across the Middle East, murder happens daily".
The Vatican in recent months has grown increasingly concerned about the fate of Christians in Middle Eastern nations after an October suicide bombing in a Baghdad church killed 52 people.
Pope Benedict XVI called for all Islamic countries to offer the same religious freedoms Muslims enjoy in Christian-majority countries.
The pope said interfaith dialogue will fail without the freedom to practice all religions in private and public.
UPI
