Priest who converted from Islam: 'Clergy at risk of jihadi attacks'
A UK priest who converted from Islam to Christianity has warned that more clergy could be at risk of being targeted by jihadists following the killing of Father Jacques Hamel in Rouen, France, by extremists last month.
Iranian-born Rev Mohammad Eghtedarian told the Liverpool Echo that church workers "don't have to be naive".
"We can't go out and pretend to be heroes," he said. "The extremists can touch me. I know that. What happened in Normandy was awful and evil."
However, Eghtedarian - who sought asylum in the UK after speaking out against the Basij militia in Iran - insisted that the risk of being attacked would not stop him from continuing his work as a priest.
"At the end of the day I believe that life and death are in our Lord's hands. So I could die in an accident or in an act of terrorism. We must continue our work," he said.
"If our Lord went through affliction and difficulties along the way then this is also our mission too."
Eghtedarian now leads an Iranian congregation that meets at Liverpool Cathedral for a service in Farsi each week.
There is a growing Iranian Christian population in the area, and the Cathedral has baptised around 200 asylum seekers over the past four years, leading to some allegations that Muslims are converting Christianity to avoid deportation.
If they are seeking asylum from a country where Christians are persecuted, conversion to the faith could strengthen their application.
Eghtedarian admitted that "many start for the wrong reasons because they are desperate. Wouldn't you?", but added that these people "often find true peace in church that nobody else can offer."
"We are a voice of the voiceless. We accept strangers, those that others won't. We do it for Christ," he said.
"Most of them are fleeing religious or political persecution. Many have been beaten, raped, tortured.
"They want a new life. A new future. Who am I to say no?"
Father Hamel, 86, had his throat slit by two men who attacked his church at at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray on July 26.
His assailants, identified as Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Petitjean, both 19, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
