Yahoo – AFP,
July 25, 2014
Rome (AFP) - A Sudanese Christian woman whose death sentence for renouncing Islam sparked a global outcry that eventually led to an acquittal, met Pope Francis on Thursday after arriving in Italy en route to the United States.
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| Sudanese Christian woman spared death sentence meets Pope Francis (AFP) |
Rome (AFP) - A Sudanese Christian woman whose death sentence for renouncing Islam sparked a global outcry that eventually led to an acquittal, met Pope Francis on Thursday after arriving in Italy en route to the United States.
Meriam
Yahia Ibrahim Ishag and her family were received by the Argentine pontiff at
his home for a 30-minute meeting in which he thanked her for her "courageous
testament of faith" and her "tenacity", the Vatican said in a
statement.
Ishag and
her American husband Daniel Wani in turn thanked Francis for the "great
support and comfort" they had taken from "the pope's and many other
believers' prayers."
The meeting
was "a sign of closeness and solidarity for all those who suffer for their
faith, in particular Christians who suffer persecution," the Vatican
added.
The
77-year-old pope gave Ishag rosary beads after an "affectionate and
warm" chat about her plans in the US, where she is expected to fly with
her family in a few days time, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
The family
flew into a military airport in Rome early Thursday and were greeted by Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, as well as Foreign Minister Federica
Mogherini.
"Today
is a day of celebration", Renzi said.
Italian
Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli, who accompanied the family on the flight
to Rome, tweeted a photo of the young mother aboard the plane cradling her infant
daughter as her toddler son drank from a bottle.
"Mission
accomplished," he wrote.
A global
outcry erupted in May after Ishag was sentenced under Sharia law to hang for
apostasy.
Days after
her conviction, the 26-year-old gave birth to a second child in prison.
Ishag's
conviction was overturned in June, but she was immediately rearrested while
trying to leave Sudan using what prosecutors claimed were forged documents.
Two days
later, Ishag was released from prison and she and her family -- including her
American husband Daniel Wani and the two infant children -- took refuge in the
US embassy.
Ishag was
born to a Muslim father who abandoned the family, and was raised by her
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum
says Ishaq joined the Catholic church shortly before she married in 2011.
She was
convicted under Islamic Sharia law that has been in force in Sudan since 1983,
and that says Muslim conversion to another faith is punishable by death.
The court
had also sentenced her to 100 lashings because under Sharia law it considered
her union with her non-Muslim husband to be adultery.
Ishag's
case raised questions of religious freedom in mostly-Muslim Sudan and sparked
vocal protests from Western governments and human rights groups.
The case
has re-focused attention on a country which has slipped from the international
spotlight but where an 11-year-old war continues with millions of people in
need of humanitarian aid.
Ishag's
husband Wani said her family had sought protection at the US embassy because of
mounting death threats.
Ishag, Wani
and their children are being hosted by the Italian government in Rome for a few
days before they fly to New York.
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File image
shows Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag (C), a Christian Sudanese woman
sentenced
to hang for apostasy, with husband (L), her newborn baby and
20-month-old son and
members of the legal team at an undisclosed location
in Khartoum on June 23, 2014 (AFP)
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