No to polemics and violence: this is stressed by many Catholic and Christian organisations of Portugal which took position on the satirical cartoons about Muhammad. "Freedom of expression, which is an actual right, cannot affect the respect of the freedom of worship and the difference of other peoples and cultures", stated Paulo Bernardino, president of the Aid to the Suffering Church Foundation, a Catholic organisation that helps Churches in distress. The Portuguese Council of Christian Churches (Copic) believes, instead, that any "excess in the freedom of expression should be dealth with in peaceful ways" and appeals to the religious communities of the world to "settle these conflicts through talks and from different points of view, in a climate of openness and mutual respect". This organisation, that brings together the Evangelical Apostolic Catholic Lusitanian Church (Anglican Communion), the Portuguese Methodist Evangelical Church and the Portuguese Presbyterian Evangelical Church, also censured "the acts of violence that resulted from it". The Commission on Religious Freedom also criticises the acts of violence and makes an appeal to dialogue and to a "serene and civilised discussion to achieve peace".
