The British Pakistani Christian Association were active in London today with a Protest outside the Pakistani High Commission, a Petition presented at 10 Downing Street, and a Peace Concert in Trafalgar Square.
Here is one of the other singers at the event, entertaining some of the supporters as well as Joe Public:
Other religious minorities are persecuted in Pakistan but the Christians seem to have borne the brunt of the violence. Today was one of those ecumenical events that I really enjoy, standing together with other Christians on an issue where there is real co-operation and unity of purpose. The lineup of speakers included people of other faiths as well as Christians. John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need, and others from ACN were there. John read a message of support from Bishop Lang, Chairman of the Department of International Affairs for the Bishop's Conference and spoke himself of Shabaz Bhatti, mentioning Pope Benedict's tribute to him.
(Aid to the Church in Need is holding a Vigil on Thursday 17 May at Westminster Cathedral. Sung Mass at 5.30pm celebrated by Archbishop Coutts of Karachi, Pakistan; 6.30pm Rally in the Cathedral Piazza with Iraqi, Pakistani, Sudanese, and Egyptian groups in the UK; 7.30pm Cathedral Vigil in thanksgiving for the sacrifice of persecuted Christians today.)
I met the organiser Wilson Chowdhry, and he asked me if I would speak from the platform. I agreed, since there didn't seem to be any other Catholic clerics there, and it was an opportunity to show the support of the Church for this important cause. It was just a short ferverino encouraging people to use the religious freedom that we have on behalf of those who are denied the freedom to practise their faith. I finished by referring to the ongoing battle in which the Pakistani Government is seeking ways to ban the use of the words "Jesus Christ" in SMS text messages. I said that we should use the name of our Lord while we are free to do so and asked people to join in shouting out "Praised be Jesus Christ" three times.
The situation for Christians in Pakistan is very serious. On the website for the British Pakistani Christian Association, the "popular posts" widget on the sidebar has such entries as Murdered by Axe blows for failing to convert to Islam! Rashid Masih (RIP), and Karachi Trainee nurse raped and thrown out of window. Rape (often of schoolgirls), murder, kidnapping, and forced marriages are commonplace with a rate of at least two such atrocities each day.
I found this video at the website for today's events. It is harrowing in parts but is a good introduction to the issue if you want to find out what is happening in Pakistan.
Two lessons I drew from today's event:
- We must stand shoulder to shoulder with Pakistani Christians and others who are subject to persecution, and use our freedom of expression to keep their plight in the public eye.
- We must use the freedom that we still have, to stand up for our faith regardless of the relatively minor tribulations that may come our way for doing so.
18 comments:
I have been receiving posts from Wilson Chowderay for some time now. The situation in Pakistan is indeed one of great concern. He himself has received threats to himself and to his extended family in Pakistan.
I caught some of this on my way home from something else (something that had involved Mgr Keith Newton preaching). When I got there, there was an Asian gentleman addressing the crowd about the need to distinguish between Islam and the actions of some Muslims. Fair enough. He adduced the need to distinguish between Christianity and the actions of Christians, remarking that Christians were responsible for the Crusades, colonialism, racial discrimination and the Holocaust. I would contend that the first two of these were not all bad. Sympathetic though I am to this cause (and I am a paid-up supporter of ACN) this sort of shoddy argument using the Holocaust made me decide to head off to Starbucks instead of hanging around longer.
To be fair, there were all sorts of speakers, including some, like myself who were not scheduled. ACN cannot be held responsible for the content of the speeches - they co-operated in an event which successfully highlighted the plight of persecuted Christians. And of course I recommend their own scheduled event.
Well done Fr Tim! Viva Cristo Rey!
Father
Thank you and well done.
Please forgive my pedantic point. Pakistan is in the Commonwealth and so has a High Commission rather than an Embassy in London. phclondon.org
The UK High Commission in Islamabad notes on its website:
"Minority communities and individuals, such as Christians, (religious and ethnic) suffer from discrimination and have been the target of many violent attacks, perpetrated by violent extremist groups, leaving dozens and sometimes hundreds dead. The criminal justice system is weak and many people feel they do not have adequate access to justice or an effective rule of law. Militant groups have made life very difficult and dangerous for many – especially communities in the north which border Afghanistan."
Meanwhile the presence of Francis Campbell as Director UK Trade & Investment and Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi may give some encouragement.
I support the Barnabas Fund and have been asking Australian politicians to take up the cause of our Brethren in Pakistan, Egypt and Iran. Our former PM Kevin Rudd was one of those-no response from him as either PM or Foreign Minister and what is more he is supposed to be a Christian! now perhaps God has,amongst other things placed Kevin on the back bench because he has not been doing a ggod job for fellow Christians.
As for Starbucks- they closed down in Oz
Hi AndrewWS it is a shame you did not come earlier as you missed the words of guests such as Alan Craig (Christian Peoples Alliance), Andrea Minichiello-Williams of Christian Concern and John Pontifex from ACNUK. The speaker you are referring too is Imam Dr Taj Hargey who is a Muslim Reformist and was invited to the Trafalgar Square portion of the Interfaith harmony meeting. We had vetted the finer points of his speech but he does speak without the use of notes so a full screen could not take place. He has his views and usually does not refer to matters such as you have highlighted (at our events that is), I can only apologise for the content and will ensure we set stricter guidelines in future. Imam Taj Hargey was very influential in the succesful campaign against the proposed mega mosque in London. I was not aware of the comments made till your response as I was working backstage on preparing the next stage performance, but will speak to Taj to ensure that a similar occurrence is avoided in future. Unfortunately many Muslims associate German Christian Democrat Party support for Hitler in the nascent phase of his rise to power as something more insidious. Much must be done to correct this myth.
The event at Trafalgar Square is multifaith but if you would prefer a purely Christian element than come to our 1 hour worship section before the Pakistan Embassy next year guest speakers for the first hour are entirely Christian. Please do no be put off by your bad experience this time, as you may find that messages from other key speakers are both revealing and inspirational.
Chaeck the day FO THE May event please.
Thank you Father, We missed your speech as we had to leave early to get back ro Nelson, Lancashire. There were lot of Pakistani Catholics also there. One the nun from Pakistan joined us in singing hymn with our choir. We had a amazing time. Also special thanks to aid to church in need, ooberfuse and Wilson, well done!
Thank You Father Tim, for your support.
Good for you, Father. We need to keep this terrible state of affairs public on the blogs and in the streets. If it happens anywhere, it could happen to us.
Thanks Peter and John for corrections. Post now amended.
"...other Christians on an issue where there is real co-operation and unity of purpose..."
"other Christians"
Where I am from, we call them Heretics.
And we do not stand with their Heresy as we fight the good fight.
We send them to the Padre, that they might repent and convert.
"Viva Cristo Rey" is not what we declare while pretending ecumenism.
True Ecumenism is bringing the heretic into the treasury of Holy Mother Church, but not his heresy.
We should not by any means elevate his sin of Heresy to equal status of Holy Mother Church.
A brief look at us Cristeros will show you we took the fight to the Heretics and won; only the Holy Father unconditionally surrendered.
Doing this is like attending a Gay Pride Rally and saying you are there to represent the ones that are Catholic.
*
Pablo - I think that you were fighting against secularists and anti-clericals rather than heretics.
We can stand together with other Christians without compromising our faith when it is a question of standing up for the rights of Christians against secularists or against militant islam.
Of course we want all to come within the household of the faith. These events cannot be compared to a Gay Pride Rally, that is ridiculous. We all agree that it is wrong for Christians to be raped, murdered and burnt out of their homes.
Thank you for this eye-opening and moving video. What faith, what courage, and what an example Shabaz Bhatti gives us.
Thank you, Father time, for this report. Clement Shahbaz Bhatti is one of the great Catholics of our time, a politician whose only desire was ‘to be at the feet of Jesus’.
One of my Columban classmates, Fr Pat McCaffrey from Co Fermanagh, who died suddenly in Pakistan in 2010, used to celebrate Mass regularly with Catholic Pakistanis in Nelson when he was based in Bradford.
Another Columban, Australian Fr Robert McCulloch, is being presented this week with the highest award Pakistan can give to a foreigner, especially for his work with the sick: http://columban.com/ssc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=489:columban-honoured-by-pakistan&catid=91:pakistan&Itemid=275
Cherrie Anderson of Ooberfuse is from the Philippines and as a missionary in that country I am inspired by the fact that a young Filipina based in London has written a song about a politician in Pakistan whom the bishops of that country wish to be declared a martyr by the Church. Ooberfuse also wrote a song that was used during Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain.
I have to admit that the ecumenical tone of this also left me feeling a little uneasy but I don't think its quite as bad as Pablo is making out.
Please prayerfully consider donating to the defense of Pakistani Catholics through the papally-approved Aid to the Church in Need:
http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6946&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=1002
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