Bishop ruled competent on conversion claim

A Dutch junior minister has failed in his bid to convince a court that a Catholic bishop was not qualified to certify that a convert from Islam was now a believing Christian.

Justice Ministry State Secretary Fred Teeven sought to disqualify Roermond diocese’s Auxiliary Bishop Everard de Jong as a witness in an asylum appeal by Afghan refugee Abdul Ghafoor Ahmadzai, who said he risked oppression back home because of his conversion. Apostasy is a crime punishable by death in Afghanistan.

An appeal court said de Jong, who was made a bishop by the Vatican in 1999 after theology studies in Rome and Washington and long experience as a priest, “must be considered an authority” in judging Ahmadzai’s sincerity.