Vatican 'may appeal' to Iran over stoning case

Too bad the Vatican wasn't this pro-active when priests were raping kids.

The Vatican has said it could appeal diplomatically to Iran to spare the life of an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

The statement followed a plea for help from the son of the woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, in an interview with an Italian news agency.

After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ms Ashtiani's stoning sentence in July.

However, campaigners fear Ms Ashtiani could still be hanged.

The Vatican said it was "following this affair with attention and commitment," spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

"The Church's position against the death penalty is well known and stoning is a particularly brutal form of it," he said.

Fr Lombardi said the Vatican could use diplomatic channels to try to save Ms Ashtiani, but he told Associated Press news agency that no formal request to intervene had been made.

Source

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Laura