OTTAWA - Canada’s Catholic bishops have intervened in the case of an Iranian pastor who faces a possible death sentence for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani converted to Christianity from Islam. A year ago, he was sentenced to death on charges of apostasy. He has been given five chances to recant his Christian faith, but has refused. The Iranian Supreme Court has turned his case over to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an Oct. 6 letter to the Iranian Embassy’s Chargé d’affaires Sheikh-Hassani, Kingston Archbishop Brendan O’Brien raised the “urgent case” of the pastor, whose “life remains in danger” even though at the time his death sentence seemed to have been commuted though he was still being detained and “under pressure to recant his conversion.”

But Nadarkhani now faces additional charges of “rape, extortion and security-related charges," according to a report from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission.

Writing as the chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, O’Brien reminded Sheikh-Hassani that Iran voted in favour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to “freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief.”

The letter requested the Iranian government “respect its international commitment to human rights, and that Pastor Nadarkhani, and all other persons in your country who are in similar situations, be treated in accordance with Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

A copy of the open letter was sent to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who issued a statement Sept. 28 expressing concern over Nadarkhani’s plight.

“Canada deeply deplores reports that an Iranian Christian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, could be imminently executed for refusing an order by Iran's courts to recant his faith,” Baird said, calling upon Iran “uphold its obligations under international human rights law.”

“Iran consistently violates the human rights of minorities, including Christians and Bahá’i,” Baird said. “Our government is committed to establishing an Office of Religious Freedom to promote and protect these rights around the world, ensuring that this type of persecution does not go unchecked.”

Voice of the Martyrs has also raised the pastor’s plight in its regular bulletins on the plight of persecuted Christians.