His Holiness Patriarch Alexy speaks in support of an Afghan citizen tried for his conversion to Christianity

On 28 March 2006, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia sent the following letter to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai.

‘May I express my concern over the fate of an Afghanistan citizen Abdullah Rahman. I respect the laws of your country, but ask you to show leniency towards this man who became Christian sixteen years ago.

It is impossible to force a human being to be a member of a certain religious community.

I hope that your wise and merciful decision will continue a tradition of tolerance and denial of religious coercion characteristic of Islam and the people of Afghanistan from old times.

Please accept my wishes of good health, wellbeing and success in your ministry to your nation.’