Daniel O’Connor, a Columban priest from New Zealand working in the Diocese of Hyderabad in Pakistan, reports on the aftermath of the Peshawar church bombing two weeks ago. Dan has been Columban priest for 25 years. Last year he ran in the London Marathon “Life will not be the same for their loved ones again, and Read more
Raymond Ibrahim’s fundamental new book Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians, has been widely reported, covered and praised and does not require an introduction, but it prompts a reflection. The problem of Christian discrimination and persecution by Muslims is in fact two problems. Like unpunished crimes’ victims who suffer twice, for the crime and for Read more
The state of religious freedom around the world is “increasingly dire”, according to the chairperson of a United States agency that monitors threats to this human right. The reasons include the rise of violent religious extremism and the actions and inactions of governments, according to Dr Katrina Lantos Swett of the US Commission for International Read more
Real estate interests in a “land mafia” may have been behind an attack on Christians by a 3000-strong mob which burnt 180 homes and two churches in a Christian quarter of Lahore, according to Pakistan’s Minister of State for Harmony. In a motion presented in the federal senate, the minister, Akram Masih Gill, who is Read more
A crowd of about 3000 Muslims has attacked and burned about 100 homes of Christians in Lahore, Pakistan, for a case of alleged blasphemy. The crowd also threw stones and injured several police officers who rushed to the scene to stop the violence. Between 120 and 140 Christian men, women, children were admitted to hospital. Read more
A court in Pakistan has dropped a controversial blasphemy charge against a Christian girl accused of burning pages from the Koran, but many others are suffering under the same draconian blasphemy law. Rimsha Masih, who is 14 but considered to have a lower mental age, was charged after being accused by a neighbour, a Muslim Read more
Several Protestant clergy and Catholic priests in Pakistan have called on their churches to consider relaxing attitudes towards Christian polygamists, or risk a drop in Church membership. Their concerns follow the strong impact of Islamic society on religious minority families. Continue reading
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 Read more
As international pressure grows for the release of Asia Bibi — a Christian mother of five who faces a death sentence in Pakistan for alleged blasphemy — local Church officials are trying to dampen down protests lest they provoke Islamic extremists. “Instead of making noises, we would prefer to keep quiet and wait for the Read more
Scotland’s most senior Catholic bishop has called for the Church to consider declaring Shahbaz Bhatti a saint.
In a statement issued on March 2, the first anniversary of Mr Bhatti’s death, Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien (pictured), Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, expressed his hope that the Church will look into the option of canonising Mr Bhatti.
Appointed federal minister for minorities, a Cabinet position in Pakistan’s government, Shahbaz Bhatti took up the cause of religious freedom, speaking out against persecution and in so doing knowingly put his life in danger.
Read the article...