His blood cries out



A powerful video dedicated to Shabaz Bhatti. It opens with film of him saying that he is ready to die to defend the rights of Christians against the imposition of Sharia law. The song is by ooberfuse; here is the description from their website:
ooberfuse brings together the very best of western and eastern musical traditions. ooberfuse is a london based electro pop band composed of hal, cherrie, and paul. it's all about fusing bold melodies with cool harmonies!
It struck me that this is a remarkable development in the process of demonstrating a popular cultus. There is also a website calling for Shabaz Bhatti's canonisation, and why not, after all?

The General Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan, held from 20 to 25 March last year in Multan, Punjab, unanimously approved the proposal of Bishop Andrew Francis to submit to the Holy See a formal request to declare the Catholic Minister Shahbaz Bhatti a “martyr”. Cardinal Keith O'Brien has publicly given his support to the cause.

Shabaz Bhatti was first Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs in Pakistan. He was murdered on 2 March 2011 in Islamabad. It could scarcely be doubted that he was killed propter odium fidei (on account of hatred of the faith) and that he is therefore a genuine Christian martyr, though of course, we submit to the judgement of the Church on the matter.

UPDATE: In this morning's post I received flyers for the British Pakistan Peace Rally which takes place this Saturday 10 March with petition at the Pakistan embassy, Petition at 10 Downing Street and rally at Trafalgar Square. For details, see: britishpakistanichristian.blogspot.com

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