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Christians in Karachi stage a protest march over the weekend to condemn the attack on a church.
Archbishop Joseph Coutts led the protest which included about 70 priests, nuns and Christian politicians.
The marchers carried banners that called for equal rights for Christians in the wake of the attack on Saint Francis Catholic Church on Friday evening, a report by UCA News said.
About 100 Muslims pelted the doors and windows of the church with stones, damaging a Marian grotto and vehicles parked inside the church compound.
Franciscan Father Jamil Albert was quoted in the report as saying churchgoers hid in the dining hall of the parish house during the attack.
“We have canceled celebrations for the feast of St. Francis and the archbishop’s pastoral visit to the area,” the priest said, adding that only 30 percent of the congregation attended Mass on Sunday after the attack.
UCA News said local media reported that a Muslim group was originally protesting over power outages in Karachi before the attack. Police were quoted as saying that a heated argument resulted in a confrontation.
“We believe the incident was not religiously motivated,” Inspector Aslam Gujjar was quoted as saying in Dawn newspaper on Saturday.
Bishop Coutts, however, said the attack was prompted by the film “Innocence of Muslims,” which has prompted a number of violent incidents across the Islamic world.
“The Christian community will keep registering protests until the government ensures safety and security for religious minorities in the country,” he said.
Friday’s attack was the third time Muslims have attacked St. Francis Church since the video appeared on the internet.
Source
- UCA News
- Oman Tribune
- Image: UCA News
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