The
Vatican’s first-ever envoy to Malaysia has apologised for supporting
the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims after he was summoned by the
foreign minister.
Archbishop
Joseph Marino issued a statement late on Tuesday, after meeting with
Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, saying his comments were “never intended
as an attempt to intrude into the internal affairs of the country”.
Marino,
who arrived in Kuala Lumpur less than six months ago, had last Thursday
waded into a religious row in Muslim-majority Malaysia over the use of
the word “Allah”.
He
described arguments put forward by the Catholic Church in an ongoing
court battle for the right to translate “God” as “Allah” in
Malay-language Bibles and other literature as “logical and acceptable”.
Soon
after, hardline Muslim groups began calling for him to be sent home.
Several cabinet ministers also accused him of “interference”.
The statement from the archbishop’s office said he had never intended to interfere.
“In
that context, he asked him (Anifah) to convey apologies for any
misunderstandings and inconveniences that it may have caused,” the
statement said.
Anifah
also said in a statement that “Archbishop Marino was advised to be
mindful of the religious sensitivities of the host country and that the
issue he commented on is still under the Court of Appeal”.
Controversy
over the use of the word “Allah” came to a head three years ago, when
the High Court ruled that non-Muslims are allowed to use the word to
refer to God in their Malay-language literature.
The
court case arose after Malaysia’s Catholic Church sued the government
for banning the use of the word in its weekly newspaper, The Herald.
Muslims
had denounced the verdict, claiming “Allah” is exclusive to Islam. The
government decided to appeal the ruling after several places of worship
were fire-bombed.
Malaysia has more than 2.5 million Christians in a population of 28 million, of which about 60 per cent are Muslim.
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