The Catholic Archbishop of Samoa has made it clear he does not support a recent call by church leaders to ban Islam from the islands.
Even though the Catholic Church is represented on the Samoa Council of Churches, whose leader made the call two weeks ago, Archbishop Alapati Lui Mataeliga said he had not been consulted on the ban and did not agree.
He indicated he would prefer dialogue as a way forward and said it was wrong to identify Islam with terrorism.
"The Catholic Church is at the forefront of dialogue especially with non-Christian religions and I take that view too. I think we should open our hearts and our minds to Islam and not really to rush into condemning Islam just because of terrorists," he told Radio NZ.
Regarding calls to strengthen the Christian element of the constitution of Samoa, Archbishop Mataeliga said the constitution already recognises Samoa as Christian. He said there should be clear separation of church and state.
He was speaking after Ma'auga Motu, secretary general of the Samoa Council of Churches, urged the government to ban Islam.
He said he did not object in the least if people compared him to Donald Trump who last year suggested a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
Of the Samoan islands' population of about 200,000, just 0.03 per cent are currently Muslim. The rest are nearly all Christian.
The prime minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, recently called for review of religious freedom. He wants Samoa's constitutional law changed to be more explicitly Christian.
Motu said he thought this would not be enough.
