A decision by Prime Minister Najib Razak to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on Monday signals a wish to mend ties with Malaysia’s Christians following a series of incidents, including the firebombing of churches, that have strained interfaith relations in this Muslim-majority nation, analysts say.
Mr. Najib is scheduled to visit Benedict at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence near Rome, for talks that are expected to touch on the possibility of Malaysia establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
It would appear that the Malaysians are indeed serious – I believe Roman Catholics rank third among the Christian denominations in number of adherents in Malaysia (after Anglicans and Methodists) so if the Malaysian PM is down to that level, then there is some serious diplomatic reach-out to Christians going on. Good to see.
I expect this means that the Malaysian Prime Minister has already conducted talks with the Anglicans and Methodists, both of whom have more adherents in Malaysia than the Roman Catholic Church. The former Anglican Primate of South East asia