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Britain promises more anti-terror aid to Pakistan |
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ISLAMABAD: December 14, 2008. (AFP) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday pledged more technical support and funding to help Pakistan and India battle terrorism in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people. |
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Brown made the offers as he made whirlwind visits to both nations' capitals and tried to calm tensions following the assaults, which India has blamed on a Pakistani-based Islamist group.
Brown urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cooperate to peacefully resolve the crisis, which the U.S. fears could divert Pakistan's attention away from battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan.
In Pakistan, Brown met with President Asif Ali Zardari and promised the Muslim nation new bomb-scanning technology, forensic assistance, help improving airport security and other support. He also announced a $9 million program to help fight the causes of extremism and strengthen democracy, including trying to reach out to and educate Pakistani youth to avoid radicalization.
"We will continue to expand our counterterrorism assistance program with Pakistan, and it will be, more than ever, the most comprehensive anti-terrorism program Britain has signed with any country," Brown said at a joint news conference with Zardari.
Brown also said more would be done with both India and Pakistan to share police data on terror suspects and groups.
For Britain, which has a large South Asian population and colonial-era links to the region, the subject is of vital concern. Three-quarters of the most serious terror plots investigated by British authorities have links to al-Qaida in Pakistan, Brown said.
The investigations included the trans-Atlantic airliner plot, where a group of men were accused of trying to blow up several airliners. Three of four British-born men who carried out the London suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters in 2005 had family ties to Pakistan. British citizens were also among the dead in the Mumbai attacks.
"All of us suffer when terrorists are active and are able to impose their will," Brown said.
Brown said he asked Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during breakfast Sunday if he would allow British authorities to question the only known surviving gunman in the Mumbai massacre, and asked Zadari for similar cooperation with arrested suspects.
India has blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic group for the attacks, an assertion Brown echoed.
"We also know that the group responsible (for the Mumbai attacks) is LET, and they have a great deal to answer for," Brown said.
According to India, the 10 gunmen nine of whom were killed were from Pakistan, as were the handlers, masterminds, weapons, training camps and financing.
Pakistan has arrested some suspected plotters and shut offices of a charity allegedly linked to Lashkar, but it is pressing India to provide evidence to aid in prosecutions.
India now finds itself in the awkward position of potentially having to investigate terrorist attacks hand-in-hand with its longtime nemesis. The two countries have fought three wars against each other since independence from Britain in 1947.
Zardari said Pakistan wants peaceful relations and views the post-Mumbai scenario as "an opportunity to cooperate with India, to take the relationship with India to another level."
Adding to tensions, Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft violated Pakistan's airspace twice Saturday over the eastern city of Lahore and in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
India denied the claims, and Pakistani officials tried to downplay the matter Sunday. Zardari said the incursions were "technical" and that the media were "trying to sell bad news."
Two of the wars the sides have fought have been over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, whose status has emerged as a recurrent theme in the radicalization of young British Muslims. Despite a peace process that began in 2004, tensions remain high between India and Pakistan.
Brown arrived in India following a surprise visit Saturday to Afghanistan, where he met with British soldiers and hinted Britain would provide more troops, saying Europe's streets were safer because of the fight in Afghanistan.
While with Zardari, Brown said he also raised the subject of insecurity along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Al-Qaida and Taliban militants have found safe havens on the Pakistani side, to the chagrin of U.S. and NATO leaders who fear the insurgents are using those sanctuaries to plot attacks on their troops in Afghanistan.
Improving the border security "is in all our interest" Brown said, because of the "people practicing terror who are moving with ease."
Brown is leading a review of the U.K.'s strategy in Afghanistan, and an announcement on troop deployment is expected in Parliament this week. American leaders say thousands of incoming U.S. troops will be sent to reinforce British forces in the restive south.
Britain has some 8,200 troops in Afghanistan. More than 130 British soldiers have died there since 2001 |
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Pope: Immigrant kids must be integrated |
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VATICAN CITY: November 27, 2009. (AP) Pope Benedict XVI says immigrant children must be fully integrated into their new societies and protected from the risks of exploitation. |
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Benedict made the appeal in a message published Friday to mark the church's World Day for Migrants and Refugees, which is celebrated Jan. 17.
The pontiff says the number of migrant children seeking political asylum is on the rise, requiring coordinated action by governments to ensure they are protected from exploitation and welcomed.
He says young immigrants must be educated and given the opportunity to enter into the work force of their new home countries.
He didn't mention any country by name, but Italy and the rest of Europe have been struggling with how to fully integrate immigrants into society. |
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Peace process with Pakistan put on 'pause': Indian minister |
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SRINAGAR: December 16, 2008. (AFP) India's foreign minister said Tuesday the peace process with Pakistan had been put on hold in the wake of last month's Islamic militant attacks on Mumbai.
"I do admit there is a pause in the composite dialogue process because of the attacks on Mumbai," Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir.
"What we expect, and what we have pointed out to (Pakistani Foreign Minister) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, is that Pakistan should fulfil its commitment of not allowing its territory for terrorist attacks against India," he added.
"Words must be followed up with action," Mukherjee said, calling for militant "infrastructural facilities" in Pakistan to be dismantled.
"We expect that good sense will prevail and we expect that the assurances that are coming will translate into action," he said.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the official Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported that the Indian government was considering suspending the peace process.
The dialogue, which began in 2004, had already been under serious strain following the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul in July -- which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.
Last month's attacks in Mumbai killed 172 people and wounded nearly 300 others. Indian officials say the militants were trained and sent by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group. |
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Mending walls between Pope and Archbishop |
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VATICAN: November 28, 2009. (By jochanj) Vatican officially announced the meeting between Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury as Cordial on Saturday |
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The Pope gifted the Archbishop with a pectoral Cross and the Archbishop had a ring that Pope Paul VI had gifted to Archbishop Michael Ramsey.
A statement issued just after the meeting of the leaders in Vatican said that the leaders discussed, the need to promote forms of collaboration and shared witness as Christianity all over the world faces challenges. The statement continued to clarify the meeting as the discussions also focused on recent events affecting relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
The statement affirmed the preparedness of the leaders for shared will to continue and consolidate the ecumenical relationship between Catholics and Anglicans. Soon after the meeting the Dr. Williams, the Archbishop, in an interview granted to BBCBBC said that the meeting had gone smoothly, as well as I could have hoped. I was able to express the concerns which many Anglicans feel in the way the Apostolic Constitution was handled, in the way it was made public, but we moved from there to talk more positive matters of co-operation, and he (the Pope) was extremely enthusiastic about the next stage of official dialogue between the two churches.
Dr. Williams brushed aside the accusation that the Popes move had damaged ecumenical relations. He said, I think not. I think its a pastoral measure for certain people, certain groupings. It is not a new ecumenism, as some people are saying. It is not a new departure replacing the continuing dialogue of the two Churches as Churches.
The suggestion that there is a new track in ecumenism in the Apostolic Constitution is not the case.
In yet another interview with Vatican Radio, the Archbishop said that the misleading messages given out in the manner of announcement of the Popes move had left both the Archbishop and many Anglicans in an awkward position for some time. I wanted to share some of these concerns with the Pope. I think those were expressed and heard in a friendly spirit. |
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Christmas decorations a reminder of new life from Christ, pope says |
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VATICAN CITY: December 16, 2008. (CNS) The traditional decorations of Christmas are reminders that the light and love of Jesus Christ bring new life to all who wait in darkness, Pope Benedict XVI said. |
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The pope spoke about Christmas trees as symbols of new life Dec. 12 when he met a delegation from Austria, which donated the Christmas tree in St. Peter's Square, and he spoke about Nativity scenes as reminders of God's love for humanity when he blessed figures of the baby Jesus Dec. 14 before reciting the Angelus.
"Before the Nativity scene, we experience Christian joy, contemplating in the face of the newborn Jesus the face of the God who drew near to us out of love," the pope said during his Angelus address.
The day's reading from St. Paul, he said, called on Christians to rejoice because the Lord is near.
Although the Catholic Church believes in the second coming of Christ, there is no need for "alarmism," he said. "The nearness of God is not a question of space or time, but a question of love: Love is drawing near."
In the special blessing for the Nativity scene figures, which Roman children brought to St. Peter's Square for the occasion, the pope prayed that the figurines would be signs of the presence of Jesus' love in people's homes and families.
"Open our hearts so that we can receive Jesus in joy, that we always can do what he asks of us and that we can see him in all those who need our love," the pope prayed.
In his Dec. 12 meeting with the Austrian pilgrims -- including the bishop of Sankt Polten, the governor of Lower Austria and the mayor of Gutenstein -- the pope noted that the 120-year-old, 108-foot-tall spruce was the tallest to ever stand in the center of St. Peter's Square.
"In the coming weeks, the Christmas tree will give joy to Romans and to many pilgrims from every part of the world who will come to the Eternal City," the pope said. "I will be able to see it from my window and will enjoy it."
"Its soaring form, its green and the lights on its branches are signs of life," the pope said.
The tree is a reminder that "Christ, the son of God, brings new hope and new splendor to the dark, cold and unredeemed world into which he was born," he said.
In the midst of a rainstorm Dec. 13, hundreds of people joined Vatican officials and the Austrian dignitaries for the tree-lighting ceremony, which ended with the singing of "O Tannebaum." |
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Dottore Architetto Ashraf Ramelah writes to Coptic Pope |
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His Holiness Pope Shenuda III, Patriarch and Bishops President of the great Alexandria, I am certain that this open letter will meet various disappointments in the Coptic community |
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I am certain that you will understand that the only reason I write is my concern for the Coptic situation and your relationship to the Church as its leader. I believe that our Lord wanted you to guide his Church. Meanwhile this does not mean that everything you do meets his will.
For some time, I have been observing the Church leaders statements on various occasions, and I regret to admit that certain reports were against Copts, the Coptic Church, and overall, against Bible teaching.
In all these years, the reports issued by the Church leaders contradicted the facts about Copts and had the goal to help the regime in painting a nice picture for those outside the country so that it appeared without discrimination against the Copts in Egypt.
His Holiness; I can hear your voice whisper, Son, the Church must say certain things for the sake of peace and to protect its sons. The question that comes to mind is how many Copts were killed, or jailed? How many Copts lost their homes and businesses? How many Coptic girls continue to suffer as a result of being kidnapped? How many girls were forced to change their faith? Did the Churchs statements serve to save any Coptic life, home or business? Or more likely, just help Mubaraks regime to attack the human rights of Copts?
His Holiness; The Lord teaches us to stand against the bad without fear, but now it seems that our Church is trying to please a dictatorial regime instead of standing beside its children. For more than 40 years our Church has been under clear attack. We have never heard any Church strong statement condemning any of those barbaric acts!
The sad reality is that all the years the Church covered up the regimes acts of oppression and discrimination against Copts it served to discredit any Coptic human rights issues bringing the suffering of Copts to the international body.
All Copts need to hear straight forward answers from church leaders to the following questions:
- Are Copts living under a regime that oppresses and discriminates against them or is the information reported in various websites, local and international news media incorrect and the Coptic in the Diaspora trying with their false information to discredit the great democratic leader ruling the country for the last 28 years?
- Was the government action to massacre more than 600,000 pigs owned by Copts a plan to damage Coptic income and to force more than two millions Copts to go hungry or to change their faith? The massacre of those animals violated basic animals rights and basic humanity.
- Did the Church create a list of the kinds of food to be eaten that people have to follow? Christ gives us our freedom and no one can take it away. It is written, Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man. Matt 15:11.
The statement issued at the time of the pig massacre indicating that Copts do not eat pork meat is an example of political correctness. The Copts have been subject to the political correctness method for more than 1400 years. Furthermore, to make such a statement goes against Christs teaching in the following scripture, which says, Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' anything more is from the evil one. Matt 5:37. However, we all know that David, Samson, and Solomon were all chosen of God and each made mistakes.
- When are we going to stand up and ask for our rights as Egyptian citizens and not as Christians living in Egypt? It is both basic and elementary that a human being be treated with respect and treat others with respect.
My final concern is related to a strange comment made by Your Holiness when referring to the candidacy of a Copt for president in the upcoming presidential election. You said that it is not good that one from a minority group become president of a majority group.
I would like to mention something you have forgotten, that of the requirements for making a bid for president:
- The candidate must be Egyptian.
- Copts are Egyptian and they never minded being governed by the non-Coptic.
- The President has to be honest and care about his own country.
In the USA the president today is African-American and African-Americans are a minority in America. They are a smaller percentage of US population than the Coptic minority is in Egypt. |
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No proof of Pakistan link to Mumbai attacks: Zardari |
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LONDON: December 18, 2008. (AFP) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari insisted in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday that there was no firm proof linking his country to last month's attacks on India's financial centre, Mumbai. |
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Speaking to the British broadcaster from Islamabad, he said the investigations into the attacks were ongoing and he would "not jump to a conclusion" on who was responsible until they were complete.
New Delhi has fingered "elements" in Pakistan for the attacks that left 172 people dead, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said militants from Pakistan-based group Laskhar-e-Taiba were responsible.
"What we are saying is that we are willing to cooperate -- and you know like anybody else does, that investigation is an evolving process, it hasn't been long enough" to come to any conclusions, Zardari said.
He added: "I think we will hold our judgement till the proper investigation and conclusive evidence is shared between Pakistan and India, and we're hoping that that would happen because we've asked for a joint investigation."
Put to him that the sole surviving gunman has been identified as a Pakistan national, the president said: "No, we don't know that, we haven't investigated that, we are investigating that position.
"There have been disputed positions in the press... I would say the investigation is ongoing and I would not jump to a conclusion."
However, he said his country was prepared to act if links to Pakistan emerged.
"If that stage comes, and when it comes, I assure you that our parliament, our democracy, shall take the action properly deemed in our constitution and in our law," he said. |
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The Feast of St. Xavier celebrated in Abu Dhabi |
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DHABI: December 6, 2009. (By Jochanji) Catholics in Abu Dhabi celebrated the feast of St. Francis Xavier on 3 December with gaiety and splendor. |
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The celebrations were held at the St. Josephs Cathedral ground, Abu Dhabi.
The services began with the recitation of Holy Rosary at 7.30 p.m. followed by a procession and a concelebrated mass in Konkani, a local Indian tongue. His Eminence Bishop Paul Hinder attended the services and addressed the community.
The Konkani speaking catholic community in Abu Dhabi displays a strong sense of unity with timely celebrations of church services and retreats. They call themselves as the Goan community. The leader of the Goan Community in Abu Dhabi, Mr. John reminded those attended the service, main objectives of the Goan community and thanked the priests and prelate present on the occasion. Fr. Rudolf D Souza, who had earlier conducted a retreat for the community; delivered a homily during the mass, marking the end of the retreat. He said strive hard to achieve your goals and yet it is impossible to achieve anything without God and His assistance. |
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Multan bench of LHC hears case of two kidnapped Christian teenage sisters and enforced conversion to Islam |
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Multan, Pakistan: December 18, 2008. (The Sikh Times) After a judge placed new financial and social pressure on the captors of a Pakistani girl who was kidnapped and converted to Islam, attorneys have guarded optimism they can return her to custody of her Christian parents, one news from Pakistan has reported.
Judge Malik Saeed Ijaz ordered the girls husband, Amjad Ali, to pay a dowry of 100,000 rupees (US$1,275) and allow her parents visitation rights, two actions required by typical Pakistani marriage protocol.
So far he has done neither.
The judge gave Saba Masih, 13, the opportunity to talk with her family during yesterdays hearing, but she remained mostly silent behind her veil, offering only blunt replies.
I dont want to see my parents. They are Christians and I am a Muslim, she said, according to her parents attorney.
Her younger sister Aneela Masih, who was also kidnapped but returned to her family three months ago, pleaded with her older sister to return home. The 10-year-old told her that Christmas was coming and she didnt want her sister to spend it with those who are not our people.
Saba Masih appeared at the Multan branch of Lahores High Court yesterday along with her Muslim husband and his family. Her parents filed a contempt petition last month against her captors for failing to follow Pakistani marriage protocol.
Islamic law (sharia), however, gives a wife the right to relinquish a dowry. Lawyers said they fear that the Muslim family will pressure Saba Masih to claim this right in order to offset growing financial pressure.
Lawyers hope that if her mother can visit her, it will convince her to leave her husband and come home to the family; her family believes he has threatened her with violence if she attempts to rejoin them.
At Mondays hearing, Saba Masih still appeared reluctant to return to her family. Relatives said they were praying that she would change her mind and that the captors would lose their influence over her.
The main thing is Saba must be ready herself to come back, said her uncle, Khalid Raheel, the family spokesman. But she isnt ready to come back yet, and I dont know how they are convincing her.
On Wednesday (Dec. 17) the judge is expected to adjourn the case and issue a deed requiring Ali to pay the dowry at the convenience of the Masih family. The judge yesterday threatened Ali with prison time if he failed to carry out this order.
Akbar Durrani, attorney for the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said the attorneys might try to use Aneela Masihs testimony of kidnapping to take the case to the Supreme Court if other options fail.
The Christian familys lawyer said the attempt to force Ali to pay a dowry was a tactic to mount financial pressure on Saba Masihs husband and to convince her to return home.
Her family and their lawyers believe she has stayed with her Muslim husband because he and his family have issued death threats.
The Christian familys chances of winning run against the judicial status quo for Pakistani religious minorities, but the new push comes after a Sept. 9 ruling that returned Aneela Masih to her parents, a rare legal victory for non-Muslims.
Aneela and Saba Masih were kidnapped on June 26 while travelling to visit their uncle in Sarwar Shaheed, northwest of Multan. Their parents say local fruit vendor Muhammad Arif Bajwa and three others kidnapped them in Chawk Munda, a small town in south Punjab.
Saba Masih was married to Ali the next day. Bajwa and Ali registered a case with the police on June 28 for custody of the girls based on their alleged conversion to Islam.
Local residents regard the men as serial kidnappers with connections to a human trafficking ring. The girls first defense attorney believed they could have been raped and sold to a brothel.
Ironically, attorneys said, the kidnappers alleged desire to exploit Saba Masih may now be the best hope of her returning to her parents, as keeping her has become not lucrative but increasingly costly with court hearings continuing and legal fees multiplying.
These [kidnappers] dont have an emotional link to Saba, Durrani told Compass by phone. They are in the business of prostitution and only wanted to use these girls for their business.
Prosecuting attorneys said they have a growing optimism that they can regain custody of Saba Masih, something they thought unlikely two months ago.
In previous hearings, a judge allowed Saba Masih to choose whether or not she would return to her family, even though Pakistan marriage law requires the approval of legal guardians at the age of 16.
The judge determined that her age was 17 based on her testimony and a report by a medical board pressured by Muslim groups to inflate her age. He did not accept as evidence her birth certificate and baptismal record that showed her age as 13.
Younis Masih and his wife first saw their daughters after their kidnapping at a July hearing. The girls were in the company of 16 Muslims and were said to be under pressure to claim they had converted to Islam.
After Aneela Masih returned to her family in September, she claimed that their captors threatened to kill them and their family if they did not do everything asked of them.
Previously it had been reported that she was raped while in captivity, but there was no medical evidence that she was sexually abused or manhandled, lawyers said.
Her sister appears to be suffering, Durrani said.
The family has told us that Saba Masih is not in good condition most of the time she cries and is not satisfied there, Durrani said.
Kidnapping of Christians in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million is not uncommon. Many captors believe they will not be convicted if caught due to the penal codes influence by sharia, which grants non-Muslims second-class status in society.
Every year there are cases of Pakistani Christian children kidnapped, killed or exploited by those who believe their parents are powerless.
Last month a Muslim family in Nankan kidnapped the 7-year-old son of Pakistani Christian Binyamin Yusef, 30, over a land dispute. Two days later police found his sons body, which showed signs of torture and rape.
Police did not register the case when Yusef initially approached them. CLAAS representatives hope to open court action against the alleged perpetrators. |
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Eritrea Imprisons Large Group of Elderly Women |
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Washington DC: December 7, 2009. International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on December 5 at 4 PM local time, officials of Eritrea arrested 30 Christian women in Asmara, the capital city of the country. |
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The mostly elderly women were praying together at a house when security forces rounded them up and hauled them off to police station one in Asmara. Their children and grandchildren told our sources that they are concerned about the safety of their loved ones.
Most of the detainees are members of Faith Mission Church, an Evangelical Church with a Methodist background. The church has been carrying out evangelistic and development activities in Eritrea for over five decades and was forced to go underground in 2002 after Eritrean officials required all religious groups to register. The officials then allowed only three Christian denominations to register. The three registered churches are: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea.
Since 2002, officials of Eritrea have been cracking down on members of both registered and unregistered churches. They have imprisoned more than 3000 Christians keeping them in underground dungeons, mental shipping containers, and military barracks. Several Christians have died inside prisons due to torture and lack of medical attention.
ICCs Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho said We condemn the arrest of the 30 women by Eritrean officials. We urge officials of Eritrea to release the detainees and all the imprisoned Christians in the country. We call upon Eritrea to stop violating the freedom of religion of its people.
Please pray for the safety of the imprisoned women, their release from prison, and for the release of all the imprisoned Christians in Eritrea. |
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Amnesty International slams Indian anti-terror law |
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NEW DELHI: December 19, 2008. Amnesty International on Friday slammed Indias new anti-terror legislation to beef up police powers in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, saying it violates international human rights treaties. |
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The London-based human rights group called on Indias president not to approve the legislation, which would double the number of days police can detain terror suspects before filing charges, from 90 days to 180, as well as boost their powers to conduct searches.
Both houses of Indias Parliament passed the bill this week, following last months attacks on Mumbai by suspected Islamic terrorists that killed 164 people. It now needs President Pratibha Patils approval before becoming law.
While we utterly condemn the attacks and recognise that the Indian authorities have a right and duty to take effective measures to ensure the security of the population, security concerns should never be used to jeopardise peoples human rights, Madhu Malhotra, Asia Pacific Program Deputy Director at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
The governments top law enforcement official, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, defended the bill in Parliament on Wednesday as providing an adequate balance between the demands of human rights and the people of India for strong anti-terror laws.
The anti-terror bill, which was sent to Parliament along with a bill to create an FBI-style national investigation agency, was meant to beef up the powers of Indias police and judicial system to combat terrorists.
But Amnesty said the process was hasty and would likely undermine the rule of law and violate international human rights treaties. It did not specify the treaties.
In particular, Amnesty raised concerns about the sweeping definition of terrorism, extending the detention of suspects by up to 180 days, denying bail to foreigners who enter the country illegally, and the requirements, in certain circumstances, for the accused to prove their innocence.
It also condemned giving courts the right to close proceedings to the public.
Communist opposition parties had called for changes to the bill, fearing human rights abuses, but ultimately voted in favour.
To detain a person for up to 180 days will be an infringement of his human rights. We are against it, Basudeb Acharia, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) told The Associated Press.
Despite Chidambarams assurances, the government has long resisted introducing a tougher anti-terror law since repealing a law written by the Hindu nationalist BJP after coming to power in 2004, saying it was draconian and would unfairly target Indias large Muslim minority.
Indias experience with previous anti-terrorism laws has shown that they can lead to abusive practices, Amnesty said. |
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UK: Islamic Supremacist Group Launches "Jesus4Shariah" Campaign |
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Washington DC: December 9, 2009. (REAL) The British Islamic Supremacist group "Islam4UK" led by Anjem Choudary has a new campaign to promote Islamic Supremacism called "Jesus 4 Shariah." |
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In this latest campaign, this group that has called for Sharia-based stonings, amputations, suppression of women, and support for Jihadist terrorists, seeks to persuade the public that Jesus would be against democracy and would be promoting Islamic Sharia law. Islam4UK plans to schedule a "debate" to prove this point at an unknown location on December 18, 2009 in the United Kingdom.
Among its points, Islam4UK asks:
-- "Is the message of Jesus pro-secular democracy or pro-total implementation divine law within society?"
-- "Would Jesus stand with the oppressed people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine or with the oppressive occupiers?"
The purpose of Islam4UK's December 18 UK event is to provide "the truth of Islam."
Islamic Supremacist Islam4UK Group's December 18 Campaign - Slide 2What Islam4UK does not mention in this latest campaign is who and what its organization represents.
In its failed October 2009 campaign for a October 31 rally (that they backed out of), the anti-democracy, anti-freedom, Islam4UK organization also called for an end to "liberalism" in the United Kingdom and demands that "it is time for authority to be turned over to the Muslims." The Islam4UK group's leader, Anjem Choudary, has praised the 9/11 attackers, sought funding for "mujaheddin," called for oppression of women, and sought stoning and amputations to be part of Sharia law in the United Kingdom.
Two months ago, the "Islam4UK" group stated that it planned -- "On 31st October 2009, at approximately 1 pm, Muslims will be marching in a spectacular procession in support of Shari'ah law. Never before has such an event taken place in the United Kingdom, as thousands of Muslims plan to take to the heart of the Capital and demand the full implementation of Shari'ah law. Indeed, the British society has suffered extensively from the oppression of democracy and man made law, and the Muslims stand united in saying 'Enough is enough.' We have had enough of freedom, and enough of liberalism, it is time for sovereignty to return to the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Almighty Allah (SWT) and it is time for authority to be handed to the Muslims. "
The Daily Express reported in October that Islam4UK stated "we have had enough of democracy and man-made law and the depravity of the British culture.' 'On this day we will call for a complete upheaval of the British ruling system its members and legislature, and demand the full implementation of Shari'ah in Britain.' "
According to the London Evening Standard, the Islamic supremacist group "Islam4UK" is a spin-off from the previously banned "Al-Muhajiroun" led by exiled leader Omar Bakri Muhammed. Al-Muhajiroun has praised the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Omar Bakri Muhammed who continues to broadcast to Islamic supremacists in the United Kingdom via the Internet using the Paltalk tool on a nightly basis (9:30 PM - 11:30 PM GMT), as promoted on the "Islam4UK" web site.
Anjem Choudary, the deputy of exiled radical Omar Bakri Muhammed, has been conducting ongoing operations of the "Islam4UK" organization in the United Kingdom.
Choudary praised the 9/11 attackers along with Omar Bakri Muhammed. Choudary has stated that "Jihad is a duty and a struggle and an obligation that lies upon the shoulders of us all. We will not rest until the flag of Allah and the flag of Islam is raised above 10 Downing Street" He has also stated "if you do not fear your home being raided by the Kufar [non-believer] police, you are not enforcing the Sharia."
As part of his calls for Sharia law in the United Kingdom, Islam4UK's Anjem Choudary has been reported calling for the enforcement of bukhas on women in the United Kingdom, stating: "Every woman, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, would have to wear a traditional burkha and cover everything apart from her face and hands in public." Choudary's calls for Sharia in the United Kingdom have also demanded stoning, stating: "In matters to do with the judicial system and the penal code, one male witness is sufficient to counter the testimony of two females. People who commit adultery would be stoned to death."Street, and a draconian form of sharia law imposed across the UK. He wants alcohol banned, amputations for thieves, and adulterers to be stoned to death." The Daily Mail report quotes Choudary as praising Sharia-based amputations for thieves, with Choudary stating "It is a deterrent. If you steal, you know you will face having your hands and feet cut off." In March 2009, Choudary was quoted by numerous news services for threatening homosexuals in the United Kingdom with punishment under Sharia law.
The July 24 Daily Mail report also addressed Anjem Choudary's "road shows" around the United Kingdom to gain followers for his Islamic supremacist ideology, including small children. The Sunday Mercury has also reported on Choudary's efforts to "convert" small children to his beliefs in the United Kingdom. Choudary has created a "summer school" for Sharia to indoctrinate children, according to reports.
The Daily Mail has pointed out that Choudary "has been secretly taped urging his followers to raise money for Islamic fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying this would help them kill the 'butchers and cowards' from the U.S. and Britain."
In March 2009, reports of Choudary's call for Britons to raise funds for the "mujahdeen" were documented by the London Times and the Daily Telegraph. According to the London Times: "At one point on the tape Choudary says: 'People [are] looking for a place for their money to go so they can go to the front line and they cant find it. You should not think to yourself 'my money, my money' . . . you have [an] opportunity to carry da'wah [the spread of Islam] to society . . . and you have money that can go towards the da'wah, you have money that can go towards the mujaheddin.' " |
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Eight dead in as missile hit northwest Pakistan |
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PESHAWAR: December 22, 2008. (AFP) Two suspected US missile strikes on a tribal area in northwest Pakistan known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda activity killed at least eight militants on Monday, officials said.
The strikes were the latest on extremists in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan -- all said to have been launched by unmanned CIA aircraft -- that have raised tensions between Washington and Islamabad.
Two missiles "fired by US drones" struck the villages of Karikot and Shin Warsak in troubled South Waziristan, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"Two vehicles fitted with guns were destroyed," the official said, adding that those killed were all inside the cars, which were camouflaged with mud and grass.
It was not immediately clear if any senior Taliban or Al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the strikes, which took place just minutes apart, he said.
Local intelligence sources said they believed the militants killed were members of local Pakistani Taliban groups.
The strikes caused huge fires in both villages, sending panicked residents running into the streets, the security official said, adding that one house was damaged.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters later gathered in the two villages -- both outside Wana, the main town in South Waziristan -- to say funeral prayers for those killed, local residents told AFP.
The suspected US strikes have continued despite a warning by Taliban militants based in tribal territory last month that any more would lead to reprisal attacks across Pakistan.
A spokesman for local Taliban commander Mullah Nazir told reporters that Nazir had pledged to seek revenge for Monday's attack "within three days".
A US missile attack late last month killed Rashid Rauf, the alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot, as well as an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative, security officials have said.
Pakistan has repeatedly protested to the United States that the strikes violate its territorial sovereignty and deepen resentment among the 160 million people of the nuclear-armed Islamic nation.
Saleh Shah, a Pakistani senator from the tribal areas, strongly condemned Monday's attacks, saying they were "counterproductive" and would not help restore peace and order in the region.
President Asif Ali Zardari recently promised zero tolerance for violations of his country's sovereignty, but some officials say there is a tacit understanding between the two militaries to allow such action.
More than two dozen similar strikes have been carried out since August, killing more than 200 people, most of them militants.
The top-ranking US military official -- Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff -- arrived in Islamabad on Monday for talks with senior Pakistani officials, officials from both sides said.
Islamabad has come under increased pressure to quash militant activity within its borders, with Washington and Kabul saying it has not done enough to stop militants crossing the border to attack US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan rejects those accusations, pointing to its operation against militants in the semi-autonomous Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan. The military says more than 1,500 rebels have been killed there since August.
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in Pakistan's rugged border region, although there is no clear information about his whereabouts.
US Vice President Dick Cheney said at the weekend that he was unsure if bin Laden -- held responsible by Washington for the September 11, 2001 attacks -- was even still alive. |
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DC Examiner: Protection of religious minorities is major theme of 2009 Human Rights Day News Conference |
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Washington DC: December 10, 2009. (Justina Uram) “DC-based human rights activists and advocates commemorated Human Rights Day 2009 |
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with a well-attended Human Rights News Conference sponsored by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (REAL) at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. ”
” ‘Not only do we recognize our declaration in support of such universal human rights, but also we remember those who have denied them, including the totalitarian and supremacist nations and ideologies of the world that seek to continue to deny such universal rights today.’ ”
“In his opening remarks, REAL founder Jeffrey Imm called for US ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the end of violence against women as priorities in defending human rights. He also focused on the human rights challenges presented by religious supremacism. ‘We really need a human rights dialogue on the challenges of religious supremacist threats to our universal human rights.’ ”
“In his presentation on the persecution of Pakistani Christians by the Muslim majority, Dr. Nazir Bhatti, of the Pakistan Christian Congress, explained that Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws allow the killing of religious minorities to go unchecked.”
” ‘Christians [in Pakistan] are in the process of genocide…The situation of human rights is worsening and persecution of Christians is at a rise in Pakistan.’ ”
“Bhatti warned that Pakistan will continue to breed terrorism unless the United States’ government puts conditions on further aid to Pakistan that include the repeal of their blasphemy laws and an amendment to Article 2 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which declares Islam as the state religion of Pakistan.”
“Following Bhatti’s presentation, Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, President of the Voice of the Copts, remarked on the oppression of Egypt’s Christians, particularly women and young girls.”
” ‘Coptic women and girls are targeted for a specific plan of forced Islamization in Egypt…the abduction of Coptic women is not just a passing phenomenon but is part of a widespread plan aimed to clean the Middle East of Christians.’ ”
“In addition to denouncing the forced conversion of Coptic women, Ramelah also called for a repeal of Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution, which declares Islam as the state religion of Egypt.”
“Though both Bhatti and Ramelah’s remarks focused on the human rights abuses faced by religious minorities at the hand of Islam, Imm reminded the group, ‘we do not attack or condemn Islam or all Muslims, but we do challenge all human beings to recognize that we face an Islamic supremacist challenge to human rights in the world today.’ ”
“The final speaker, Lisa Tao of Falun Dafa turned the conference’s focus in a different direction. Giving a heartfelt presentation in her native language, Tao described the human rights abuses she faced as a young girl at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
” ‘My father was tortured to death. I was called ‘a child of the Five Black Categories.’ My life was full of humiliation and I had to struggle for many years just to stay alive.’ ”
“Tao, who is now an American citizen, explained that she and her husband began practicing Falun Gong to help them heal from the torture they suffered in China. Tao’s translator, 25-year old Pang Jin, relayed the recent arrest, torture, and prolonged detainment of her mother and aunt for their adherence to Falun Gong. ”
” ‘My aunt was abducted on July 9, 2009 and has been detained since then. On October 18, I was informed that the Weifang City district court, after delaying for a year, sentenced my Mom, Cao Junping, to 10 years.’ ”
“Tao then shared numerous examples of human rights violations by the Chinese government against Falun Gong practitioners and thanked Americans for their support and willingness to hear her story. ”
” ‘I feel that these practitioners are just like my brothers and sisters…We hope Americans, who are kind and righteous, will give a hand to rescue our brothers and sisters and stop this brutal persecution.’ ”
“Clearly, the 2009 Human Rights Day News Conference provided a forum for the discussion of human rights stories and perspectives not often covered by mainstream media. For more detailed information about The Human Rights Day News Conference, please contact the author at The Human Rights Blog. ” |
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President hosts Christmas reception |
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ISLAMABAD: December 22, 2008. President Asif Ali Zardari hosted a reception in connection with Christmas here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday. |
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. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was also present at the reception which was attended by members of Christian community and a large number of Islamabad-based diplomats, including the Ambassadors of United States and China.
Chairman Senate Muhammadmian Soomro, Speaker National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza, a number of federal ministers and members of the parliament also attended the reception.
President Zardari accompanied by Bakhtawar and Assefa cut the Special Christmas cake, wished the participants Merry Christmas and intermingled with them.
The Ambassador of the Holy Sea on this occasion prayed for the peace and prosperity of the world including Pakistan. May this Christmas bring peace across the world, the Ambassador prayed.
Bishop Anthony Logo read the Christmas Message on the occasion. APP |
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Eritrea Releases Elderly Christian Women |
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Washington, D.C: December 16, 2009. International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that yesterday at 3:30 PM local time, Eritrean officials released all the Christian women they had arrested on December 5. |
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The elderly women were detained for praying together at a house in Asmara, Eritrea’s capital. Eritrean security forces raided the prayer meeting and brought them to a police station in Asmara. ICC broke the news of the arrest in a press release issued on December 7. (See: http://www.persecution.org/suffering/pressdetail.php?presscode=352)
Most of the released Christians are members of Faith Mission Church, an Evangelical Church with a Methodist background. The church has been carrying out evangelistic and development activities in Eritrea for over five decades and was forced to go underground in 2002 after Eritrean officials required all religious groups to register. The officials then allowed only three Christian denominations to register. The three registered churches are: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea.
Since 2002, officials of Eritrea have been cracking down on members of both registered and unregistered churches. They have imprisoned more than 3000 Christians keeping them in underground dungeons, mental shipping containers, and military barracks. Several Christians have died inside prisons due to torture and lack of medical attention.
One of the released women told ICC source that “we appreciate all the people who prayed for us. Please thank God for our release.”
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho said “We welcome Eritrea’s decision to release all the women. We urge the Eritrean officials to release the more than 3000 Christians who are suffering in underground dungeons, military barracks, and metal shipping containers.” |
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Pope urges end to 'hatred and violence' in Mideast on Christmas message |
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VATICAN CITY: December 24, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI urged Thursday an end to "hatred and violence" in the Middle East during his midnight mass Christmas homily ahead of a planned trip to the region. |
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"Let us pray that peace will be established there, that hatred and violence will cease," he said in his homily, referring in particular to Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
Jerusalem's Latin patriarch said on Monday that the pope would visit the Holy Land in May on his first trip to the region as pontiff.
"With joy we would like to announce to you the desire of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Holy Land as a pilgrim next May," Fuad Twal, the Catholic leader in the Holy Land, told reporters.
It was the first official confirmation of Benedict's widely mooted first trip to the region since being elected pope in 2005.
"The supreme pontiff wishes to pray with us and for us, and to acquire a first-hand knowledge of the hard conditions of our region," Twal said in his Christmas message.
"We are confident in the Lord that this pontifical pilgrimage and pastoral visit will be a blessing for all of us as well as a substantial contribution to better understanding among the various nations of the region, lifting the barriers and helping solve the problems, removing distress and consolidating good relations among people, religions and denominations," Twal said.
He did not give specific dates. "We are studying the programme with the local authorities," he said. Last week the Italian newspaper Il Foglio said the pope would travel to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories from May 8 to 15.
The head of the Catholic Church in his Christmas homily also spoke of the plight of children "who are denied the love of their parents."
"Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace," he said.
"Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatised in the depths of their soul."
Late Wednesday Benedict inaugurated this year's Christmas creche, appearing at his window in the Vatican apartments to light a candle and greet the crowd in St Peter's Square.
The nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus Christ erected in the famous piazza features figures dating from 1842.
Benedict's predecessor John Paul II paid homage to Italy's longstanding artistic tradition of manger scenes with the first of an annual series set up in St Peter's Square in 1982.
The inauguration of this year's creche was followed by a prayer vigil for peace led by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's "foreign minister".
At midday on Thursday the pope is to deliver his traditional address titled Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) to be translated in 64 languages. AFP |
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Christmas Bazaars are Joke with Christians in Punjab. Ashfaq Fateh |
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Lahore: December 19, 2009. (PCP) The Christian leaders have urged the Chief Minister of Punjab Main Shahbaz Sharief for making fun of Christians of the Punjab in their demand to organize Christmas bazaars as were organized during the month of Ramadan |
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The Christian leaders called an urgent meeting and condemned the notifications issued by the Additional Chief Secretary & Secretary Industries, Punjab who is coordinating the installation of 26 Christmas bazaars in 17 districts of the Punjab. According to the letter, 39000 bags of Atta (wheat flour) of 20 kilogram while 19500 kilogram sugar (390) bags of have been allocated. Rs. 100 subsidy is given per bag of Atta and Rs. 10 per kilogram for sugar. The total beneficiaries will be 39000+19500=58500. The government has allocated Four million ninety five thousand only for the seventeen district where over four million Christian population is living.
Ashfaq Fateh, Christian leader demanded that Christmas bazaars were demanded on the patron of Ramadan bazaars. The chief minister allocated rupees nine billion for Ramadan bazaars for one month while only four million is spent on Christians of the Punjab between Dec 22nd to 24th, 2009.
Rasheed Jalal, district President for minorities PML (N) demanded to raise Quota of Atta from 500 to 2000 bags per day and five bags of sugar to 30 bags per day in each bazaar. The subsidy on sugar and Atta must be raised. Each bag of Atta of 20 kg must be provided at Rs.200 and sugar at least on Rupees 40.
Ayub Anjum, member district Assembly, said, the district administration has asked the Christians to pay the expenses of tentage, furniture, water, security and arrange the cleanings etc. The government has to arrange all this. This is injustice.
Mr. Atif Jamil Pagaan national convener, Pakistan Minorities democratic movement said, Additional Chief Secretary of the Punjab and Roa Manzar Hayat, Secretary Industries and Khalid Hassan deputy secretary were called over the phone and demands have been faxed to them. The Punjab government has been informed if the quota and subsidy on Atta and sugar will not be increased. The Christians will be forced to boycott these bazaars. |
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Masses mourn Pakistan's Bhutto, one year on |
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GARHI KHUDA BAKHSH, Pakistan: December 27, 2008. (AFP) More than 150,000 grieving Pakistanis thronged the tomb of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto on Saturday, mourning their beloved leader one year after her assassination. |
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A sea of sobbing mourners, some wailing and beating their chests in a wrenching outpouring of emotion, flooded through security checkpoints into the graveyard in rural southern Garhi Khuda Bakhsh for the commemoration.
Thick fog had stranded tens of thousands on the roads leading into the area early in the day, prompting authorities to delay the start of the proceedings until 4:00 pm (1100 GMT).
Bhutto, 54, was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack at a campaign rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, just two months after returning to Pakistan from exile to vie for a third term in power.
Her shocking death threw the world's only nuclear-armed Islamic nation into chaos, sparking violence and leading to months of political turmoil that ended in September when her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, claimed the presidency.
"In the tradition of a true Bhutto, she faced certain death rather than abandon her principles or the people," Zardari said in a message to the nation to mark the anniversary.
"The tyrants and the killers have killed her but they shall never be able to kill her ideas, which drove and inspired a generation to lofty aims," he said, adding that democracy was the only way to fight militancy.
The masses travelled by train, bus, truck, car, bicycle and even on foot to mourn the charismatic, Oxford-educated Bhutto, the first woman to lead a Muslim nation and someone hailed in the West as a face of moderation.
Some slept Friday night in the open in near-freezing temperatures.
Tariq Waseem, a 25-year-old student from southwestern Baluchistan province, walked about 400 kilometres (250 miles) over 10 days with about a dozen friends to be at Saturday's event. But unlike his friends, he walked barefoot.
"These are not painful," he told AFP, pointing with pride at blisters covering his soles. "These are a gift from my martyred leader."
Local police official Tanvir Odho said about 150,000 mourners had flocked to the area to pay their respects to Bhutto.
Ceremonies are expected to culminate with special prayers at 5:20 pm -- about the time Bhutto was attacked.
Around 7,000 police and paramilitary rangers have fanned out around the tomb to protect Zardari, who has said he too is a target for extremists like those who killed Bhutto.
"We do not rule out any threat and we have done all things possible to maintain peace," senior police official Khadim Hussain Rind told AFP.
A special wall has been erected around the mausoleum as part of a raft of precautions taken to safeguard Zardari. Closed-circuit cameras have been installed, and mourners were required to pass through metal detectors.
Both Zardari and the United Nations said they hoped a UN investigation would soon be launched into Bhutto's killing. Pakistani and US officials have pinned the blame on Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, but he denies any involvement.
One year on, Pakistan's reverence for Bhutto continues unabated -- all television networks ran wall-to-wall Bhutto coverage on Saturday and the government has issued a 10-rupee coin and stamps bearing her portrait.
Hundreds of vendors did a brisk business selling Bhutto memorabilia -- posters, photographs and recordings of her speeches -- ahead of the ceremony.
The government has declared Saturday a national holiday in Bhutto's honour, and events were scheduled nationwide. Candlelight vigils were held late Friday in Rawalpindi and the southern port city of Karachi.
Mohammed Amin, a labourer from Pakistani Kashmir, said he had come to Bhutto's grave without fear, despite threats of violence.
"My leader died in an act of terror, and so if I am killed in a similar act, it will be an honour for me to join my leader," he told AFP. |
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70 Percent of Humanity Lives in Countries with High Religious Restrictions -- 70 Percent of Those Countries are OIC Nations |
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Washington DC; December 21, 2009. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Communist and OIC nations are majority of those nations denying human religious freedom in the world. |
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Pew Global Poll: "nearly 70 percent of the world's 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, the brunt of which often falls on religious minorities."
Pew Global Poll Results - Worst Nations for Religious Freedom
Pew Poll - Very High
Top 5% of scores
Saudi Arabia - OIC Nation
Iran - OIC Nation
Uzbekistan - OIC Nation
China - Communist
Egypt - OIC Nation
Burma (Myanmar)
Maldives - OIC Nation
Eritrea
Malaysia - OIC Nation
Brunei - OIC Nation
Pew Poll - High
Next 15% of scores
Indonesia - OIC Nation
Mauritania - OIC Nation
Pakistan - OIC Nation
Turkey - OIC Nation
Vietnam - Communist Nation
Algeria - OIC Nation
Belarus
Russia
Turkmenistan - OIC Nation
Libya - OIC Nation
Sudan - OIC Nation
Tajikistan - OIC Nation
Jordan - OIC Nation
Afghanistan - OIC Nation
Morocco - OIC Nation
Laos - Communist
Syria - OIC Nation
India
Tunisia - OIC Nation
Azerbaijan - OIC Nation
Kuwait - OIC Nation
Kazakhstan - OIC Nation
Yemen - OIC Nation
Iraq - OIC Nation
Western Sahara
Bulgaria
Singapore
Moldova
Greece
Israel
Cuba - Communist Nation
Oman - OIC Nation
Somalia* - OIC Nation
Out of 43 Nations Ranked "Very High" and "High" in Terms of Deny Religious Freedom - 30 were OIC nations -- 70 percent of the Very High and High Nations Ranked is denying religious freedom - being OIC nations
Saudi Arabia - OIC Nation
Iran - OIC Nation
Uzbekistan - OIC Nation
Egypt - OIC Nation
Maldives - OIC Nation
Malaysia - OIC Nation
Brunei - OIC Nation
Indonesia - OIC Nation
Mauritania - OIC Nation
Pakistan - OIC Nation
Turkey - OIC Nation
Algeria - OIC Nation
Turkmenistan - OIC Nation
Libya - OIC Nation
Sudan - OIC Nation
Tajikistan - OIC Nation
Jordan - OIC Nation
Afghanistan - OIC Nation
Morocco - OIC Nation
Laos - Communist
Syria - OIC Nation
Tunisia - OIC Nation
Azerbaijan - OIC Nation
Kuwait - OIC Nation
Kazakhstan - OIC Nation
Yemen - OIC Nation
Iraq - OIC Nation
Oman - OIC Nation
Somalia* - OIC Nation |
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Pope Benedict condemns Gaza violence |
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Vatican City: December 28, 2008. With a second straight day of violence in the Gaza Strip, Pope Benedict XVI joined many from the world community, sounding off on the conflict. |
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He gave his strong opinion on the violence, asking the international community to join in trying to help the Israelis and Palestinians reach a peaceful end.
Pope Benedict XVI issued this statement from the Vatican:
"I implore the end of this violence, which is to be condemned in every way in all its manifestations. I implore the re-establishment of the ceasefire in the Gaza strip. I ask for a strong sign of humanity and wisdom from all those who have responsibilities at all levels in that situation. I ask the international community to try every possible way to help Israelis and Palestinians to come out from the dead-end street and to not give up." |
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Christmas celebrations in Pakistan underway with Carol Concerts and Protests |
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Rawalpindi: December 22, 2009. (PCP) 20 million Pakistani Christian in Islamic Republic of Pakistan have started celebrations of Christmas with Carol Singing competitions and Protests to repeal blasphemy law. |
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There is wave of fear among Christian after text messages on hundreds of cell phones with warning of attacks by Islamic militants during feast of Christmas but Christian Colonies are being decorated with lightings and indoor Christmas Trees.
In city of Rawalpindi, on December 21, 2009, a Christian Youth Group led by Mr. Nadeem Joseph and Mr. Imitaz John organized a Christmas program for the children of the "Sacred Heart Church" located in Westridge area with Prayer and Praise.
Mr. Nadeem hosted the program, he told participant that this program is arranged every year for the encouragement and support of the children who are unprivileged so that they can also enjoy and understand the meaning of Christmas.
Many young singers and choirs from different Churches of Rawalpindi were invited. They performed and entertained the crowd.
The Children performed a Christmas Play, then showed different talents while Christmas Message was given by Father Desmond Elijah.
The Christmas cake was cut for the children, then they received gifts from the Father Desmond. In the end Mr. Imtiaz John thanked every who came to attend the program and also appreciated the support of "Pakistan Christian Congress" and thanked Mr. Xavier William for his presence.
Meanwhile, in other part of Rawalpindi, Pakistan Christian Congress council members Mehboob Alam, Saqib Adeel, Zeeshan William and Suleman William led the protest against the Government of Pakistan in conjunction with the UK protest organized by British Asian Pakistani Association and led by Wilson Chowdhry on 19th December 2009.
The Protest start at 1.00 PM from Sadiqabad, near Holy Family Hospital where Father Anwer Patras and many other joined and chanted slogans against the Government for immediately repelling the Blasphemy law and give justice to the victims of the Gojra incident.
Father Anwer Patras addressing the protest stressed that the Christians should unite and stand against the Government. The Government immediately should repeal the Blasphemy law by an executive order, equal rights should be given to the Christians and the victims of Gojra should get justice. Mehboob Alam and Saqib Adeel also addressed the participants and demanded to be treated equally.
In the end Mehboob Alam thanked the participants for attending the protest and said that President of Pakistan Christian Congress Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti is the true voice of the 20 Million Christians. He also said that the PCC is growing in the Rawalpindi District under the leadership of Xavier William the PCC Joint Sectary. The procession walked all the way to the Murree road and then dispersed peacefully.
There were mixed mute celebrations of Christmas celebrations in other cities of Pakistan, |
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Need for sobriety, solidarity: message of Pope Benedict |
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Vatican City: December 31, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI has called for "sobriety and solidarity" in 2009 as the world struggles with economic and social woes |
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His appeal was made amid the splendour of St Peter's Basilica during a New Year's Eve vespers service.
Pope Benedict described these times as being "marked by uncertainty and worry for the future" but told the faithful not to be afraid.
He urged governments to help families in difficulty and said Catholic charities were doing as much as possible to help out.
A choir sang during the service, attended by cardinals, other clergy, pilgrims and tourists |
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Prayers, Blessings and Greetings on Christmas for Pakistani Christians. Inderias Bhatti |
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Lahore: December 25, 2009. (PCP) Inderias Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian congress Lahore Council, released his Christmas message to the members and Christian friends of the congress. |
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Along with prayers, blessings, greetings and well wishes he wrote the following words as per of his massage.
The Christmas has variations about:
Its time;
Its traditions;
Its leaders
Its preaching;
Its linkage;
With paganism;
And many more;
These may be doubts and/or conspiracies;
But its is a time;
When Gods passion;
Became flash;
Lived with us on Earth;
In Love of God;
He shared Love;
Unconditionally;
And inclusively;
To the broken;
Isolated;
Deprived;
Social excludes;
And built a religiosity;
Of physical togetherness;
Based on LOVE;
And not guilt and feeling of sinfulness;
And thus brought;
A living passion on earth;
A spirit of Christmas;
And left behind;
His spirit to us;
To hold it firmly;
And to move on with it;
Being beyond from any;
Doubts and conspiracies!!!
May God continue to bless you, your families, our country and our planet with all the worldly and divine sanctions!!!
Meanwhile, Secretary General of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, Mr. Morris Sadiq, Ms. Agnes Massey President of Canada PCC, Xavier William Joint Secretary PCC and many other regional offices of PCC issued greeting messages on Christmas 2009 and wished happy New Year to Christians in Pakistan. |
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American Pakistani Christians condemn statements of Pakistani ambassador in USA; Nazir S Bhatti |
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Philadelphia: December 31, 2008. Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC has strongly condemned statement of Pakistani ambassador in USA that Christians are enjoying equal rights in Pakistan. |
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In a New Year dinner to American Pakistani Christians hosted by Pakistani ambassador who was extremist Muslim and member of Jamat-e-Islami Pakistan turned to be moderate Muslim made statement that Christians are enjoying equal rights in Pakistan.
Nazir Bhatti said It is shameful for American Pakistani Christians to attend dinner of Pakistani ambassador because these Christians were asylum seekers in USA against persecution on religion in Pakistan
If Samuel Mall and Anjum Bhatti who made statements on dinner of Pakistan Embassy in USA on New Year think that Christians have equal rights in Pakistan then they must abandon their asylum and go back to Pakistan added Nazir Bhatti
People like Samuel Mall and Anjum Bhatti are agents of Pakistani establishment who were granted asylum but they are supposed to go back to Pakistan when they laud minority rights in Pakistan in presence of Pakistani ambassador.
Pakistani Christians are treated as second-class citizens and blasphemy laws are hanging like sword on their necks.
The Christian women are abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan. The Christian youth is denied equal right in job opportunity.
Nazir Bhatti said PCC demands US Justice Department to review cases of American Pakistani Christians who were granted asylum in USA on their persecution in Pakistan but now they declare that Christians have equal rights in Pakistan and enjoying religious freedom. Such asylum seekers must go back to Pakistan because they claim that there is no more persecution in Pakistan
Nazir Bhatti said that few Christians who were low profile leaders in Pakistan like Samuel Mall and Anjum Bhatti are damaging cause of Christians and performing duty of agents of Pakistani embassy and their statements are not true index of situation of Christians in Pakistan.
Christians in Pakistan are being persecuted and there is no social justice in Muslim dominated society in Pakistan
PCC condemn statement of Pakistani ambassador that Christians are enjoying equal rights in Pakistan because Christians are suffering genocide in Pakistan.
Nazir Bhatti said PCC will file memorandum with UNO to grant refugee status to Christian on constitutional genocide of Christians in Pakistan |
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Pope carries on after attack |
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VATICAN CITY: December 26, 2009. (AFP) Pope Benedict XVI, bundled to the ground by a woman who surged past guards to assault him during Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican, carried on with his heavy seasonal duties as normal Saturday. |
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The pope was unhurt in the dramatic attack in St Peter's Basilica, while a prominent French cardinal was among others who fell in the confusion and will receive a hip replacement Sunday morning, a Vatican spokesman said.
The Pope appeared serene as he waved from his balcony above St Peter's Square to pilgrims assembled in the rain for Saturday's Angelus prayer.
The night before Benedict had spoken confidently in his Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" blessing to tens of thousands of pilgrims, and in his homily Saturday he again made no mention of the attack.
Benedict appealed for prayer to support the "many believers who, in many parts of the world, endure tests and suffering because of their faith".
The assailant, identified as 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo who has Swiss-Italian nationality, told doctors she "did not want to hurt" the pope, La Repubblica newspaper reported.
The Vatican said the woman tried a similar manoeuvre at the Christmas Eve mass one year ago but was stopped by security.
Maiolo's case will be decided on by the Vatican "in the following days" according to spokesman Federico Lombardi, as they wait for medical reports from the psychiatric hospital where the woman has been placed.
Lombardi said that "the matter is more to cure her" than to judge her.
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, was receiving visitors Friday at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, Lombardi said, describing him as well "both physically and mentally" and "optimistic about the operation".
He is facing the situation "with his usual courage and optimism", Lombardi said, pointing out that the cardinal had recently returned to his functions after a health problem and "not long ago" came back from a trip to Vietnam. |
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Pope says economic crisis needs more than quick fix |
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VATICAN CITY: January 1, 2009. Pope Benedict ushered in the New Year on Thursday by appealing for solidarity worldwide to fight global poverty made worse by the financial crisis. |
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The Pontiff, delivering a traditional New Year prayer for peace, said the economic downturn needed more than quick fixes and should be regarded as an opportunity to narrow the gap between the haves and the have nots.
"This crisis needs to be looked at in depth, as a grave symptom that requires intervention on its causes," the Pope told crowds gathered in a rainy St. Peter's Square.
"It is not enough -- as Jesus would say -- to put a few new patches on an old garment," the Pope said, adding that the world's poor and their needs must become a priority.
In recent months, the German-born Benedict has sharply criticized the global financial system, branding it as self-centred, short-sighted and lacking in concern for the destitute.
"The current global economic crisis must also be viewed as a test: are we ready to look at it, in all its complexity, as a challenge for the future and not just as an emergency that needs short-lived responses?" the Pope said.
"Are we prepared for a deep revision of the dominant development model to correct it in a concerted and far-sighted fashion?
"The state of the planet's environment and above all the cultural and moral crisis ... are demanding this, even more than the immediate financial problems," he added.
During mass at the Basilica, Benedict reiterated his appeal for an end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, saying that violence was also a form of poverty and that a large majority of Israelis and Palestinians wanted peace. |
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Security Heightened After Attack On Pope |
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Rome: December 28, 2009. Security is tighter around Pope Benedict in the aftermath of an attack on the Pontiff during Christmas Eve Mass. |
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He appeared to be in good shape as he visited a soup kitchen in Rome on Sunday.
The Pope ate with 150 people, including a Muslim political refugee and a 90-year-old Italian widower.
On Christmas Eve, a woman lunged at Pope Benedict, dragging him down as she was quickly tackled by security agents.
Vatican officials say they will consider security measures, but don't want to do anything to keep the Pope from being in touch with crowds. |
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Yemeni Jews forced to leave their villages |
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Sana'a: January 5, 2009. The Yemeni Jewish community in Raida, north of the country, will move to the capital Sana'a after receiving death threats from tribal and religious extremists, |
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Jews and local official sources said on Friday.The whole Jewish community, which has 266 people, will move tomorrow from the town of Raida in Amran province, to a governmental residential complex in the city of Sana'a, the sources said. "The Jews were given an ultimatum till tomorrow to leave or convert to Islam from the relatives of Abdul Aziz Al Abdi, who is being tried for charges of murdering Mousa Yaish - a Jew - last December in Raida," said Yahya Mousa, the Rabbi of the Jews living in Sana'a. "Two days is not enough for packing everything, but they cannot stay any longer because officials and tribal chiefs have told them to leave by tomorrow," said Mousa. The Rabbi said the Jews do not want to leave their houses, but they are afraid for their lives especially after the government told them to move for their own security.Small communities"In the threats, they asked us to stop the Israeli air strikes on Gaza, yet we are Yemeni citizens and we strongly condemn the attacks," said the Rabbi. Rabbi Yahya Mousa has been living in a government residential complex in Sana'a along with 66 other Jews since early 2006 when Al Houthi rebels forced them to leave their villages in Al Salem in Sa'ada province. The 332 people, the two small Jewish communities of Raida and Al Salem, are the only Jews remaining in Yemen after tens of thousands migrated to Israel.About 50,000 Yemeni Jews immigrated to Israel during 1949-1950 in the so-called 'flying carpet' trips.The relatives of Al Abdi, who said he killed the Jew last December to get closer to Allah, also sent murder threats to local journalists in Amran for reporting about the hearings of the trial."I received murder threats from relatives of Abdul Aziz Al Abdi, they do not want me to write about the murder, they do not want me to write about the trials," said journalist Mahoud Taha. |
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Christian employees face police case and torture by TMA on Christmas Day in Pakistan. |
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Pakpattan: December 29, 2009. (PCP) A Muslim Sanitary Inspector of Tehsil Municipal Administration TMA was beating and openly manhandling Christian Sanitary workers in broad daylight |
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on streets of Pakpattan city of Punjab province who were insisting to go for prayers on 25th December, the Day of Christmas in Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
When poor Christian employees of TMA reached to lodge complain on inhuman behavior and beating of Sanitary Inspector Mohammad Attique Butt, DCO Pakpattan ordered police to register case against Christians.
The Punjab Government and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had proudly announced holiday for Christian employees for December 25 and 26, a two day leave with pay for thousands of Christian employees to celebrate Christmas.
The Tehsil Municipal Officer Pakpattan Mohammad Aslam Gujar and Sanitary Inspector Mohammad Attique Butt forced Christian employees to clean roads of Pakpattan city instead of going for prayers on Christmas Day defying orders of Christmas Holidays announced by Chief Minister of Punjab Government.
When All Christian Communities Alliance ACCA President Javeed Sahotra, Secretary General Nadeem Hamid Gill along with other leaders Khalid Nazir and Sabar Masih intervened in matter to get relief for Christian employees, the TMO Mohammad Aslam Gujar refused to listen their plea and denied Christians to offer their Christmas prayers.
The poor Christian Sanitary workers started cleaning streets and roads on Christmas Day and were crying with tears Listen to our Voice Masihia Free us from slavery Why it is Black Christmas for us
The All Christian Community Alliance ACCA team started video recording of crying Christians who were cleaning streets and weeping but Sanitary Inspector Attique Butt called other Muslims and snatched camera and took out cassette and threatened ACCA team of dire consequences.
The DCO instead of listening to Christian employees directed police to register case against Christian employees and 5 other Christians. In FIR number 908/2009, under section 186 and 427 Pakistan Penal Code registered in Pakpattan City Police Station have charged ACCA leaders Sarfraz Masih, Nadeem Hameed, Sunny Barkat, Rawal Barkat and Hamed Masih while Christian employees Daniel Masih, Saleem Masih, Sarfraz Masih and others have been charged.
Mr. Javeed Sahotra Advocate, President of ACCA have strongly condemned torture of Christian employees and enforced working on official Christmas holidays.
He appealed to Chief Minister of Punjab to take action and cancel FIR against innocent poor Christian employees.
Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC expressed grave concern on broad day light beating by Muslim Sanitary Inspector and treating Christian employees like bonded labour on Christmas Day.
Listen voice of voiceless Christians in Pakistan being treated like slaves by Muslims in every walk of life that we are human beings not animals, stop oppression and persecution and give us due equal rights until it is too late said Nazir Bhatti
Nazir Bhatt said Christians of Pakistan were demanding FIR against Muslim Attackers of Kalar Kahar on injuring 65 Christians on Christmas day but not any FIR was lodged while in Pakpattan Christians were beaten and charged in FIR by Muslims.
Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of PCC urged Chief Minister of Punjab to withdraw false FIR against Christians and take immediate action against Mohammad Attique Butt and TNO Mohammad Aslam Gujar of Pakpattan TMA. |
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Pope calls for Gaza peace talks, deplores violence in Congo |
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VATICAN CITY: January 7, 2009. (CNS) As fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, Pope Benedict XVI urged Israelis and Palestinians to end the violent, armed clashes and start peace talks. |
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"Hatred and the rejection of dialogue bring nothing but war," he said after reciting the Angelus Jan. 6 with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
"Today I would like to encourage the initiatives and efforts of all those who, having a heart of peace, are trying to help Israelis and Palestinians agree to sit down together and talk," he said.
He prayed God would help sustain the dedicated efforts of these "courageous builders of peace."
The pope also appealed for an end to the "inhumane brutality" unfolding in eastern Congo where some 20 children were abducted over the Christmas period by armed bandits who launched attacks against villages, leaving many people dead or injured.
Caritas Congo reported Dec. 29 that the children were abducted as child soldiers for the Lord's Resistance Army -- a Ugandan rebel group. Caritas Congo is the local affiliate of the international Catholic umbrella group Caritas Internationalis.
Caritas said violence in the region flared in late December leaving hundreds of people dead. It said 50 bodies were found in the courtyard of a Catholic church in Doruma on Christmas morning.
The pope urged those responsible for such "inhumane brutality to give the (kidnapped) children back to their families" so that the future of these young people may be safe and fruitful.
The pope made the appeals on the feast of the Epiphany, which is a national holiday in Italy and is largely dedicated to children.
He said he was praying for the world's children, especially those experiencing a troubled childhood.
The violence against children worldwide "appears even more appalling considering that 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child," he said.
He called on world leaders to renew their promises to defend, safeguard and foster the development of the world's children.
Pope Benedict noted that the Epiphany was dedicated to the Holy Childhood Association, a children-supported missionary organization that works in more than 100 countries. He thanked young people for their support of works that are designed to aid the world's needy. |
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Bishop Ijaz Inayat on New Years Resolutions 2010 for Christians in Pakistan |
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Karachi: December 31, 2009. (PCP) In a message Bishop Ijaz Inayat, wishes Happy New Year to Christians in Pakistan and adding |
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Assuming that we are all Christians the beginning of the New Year is an indication that another year has gone by and we are still alive. This is calculation of time given to each one of us
PCP presents contents of message by Honourable Bishop Ijaz Inayat for readers as:
Need to know each one of us has a task to accomplish within the time given. To live, work for earning, raising children and die is a life cycle which would end one day.
Towards the end of the year I raised a very vital question, Define need, greed and wishes in relationship with the Lord which further leads us to revisit our relationship with the Lord and people around us who are Gods people and our own.
Most of us have been living for ourselves and our families which are good to a certain extent, but there are duties and responsibilities beyond that.
Most of the world does not feel accountable beyond a limit of their own choice.
There are three main areas which need our immediate attention from accountability point of view.
1. Personal and family life.
2. Spiritual life.
3. Social life. This does not limit to the nearest/immediate society around us.
Remember God is giver of all things life, time and resources. Trusting this we are accountable to the Lord for all three of them because we are stewards. Also remember time and life if gone never come back and we cannot buy these with any wealth of the world.
There are three accountability courts we have to face at all times.
1. The court of our own conscious where we are answerable for all we do no matter we know it or not. An alive conscious is the lamp of the Lord. There fore learn every thing about our role in all walks of life from the Word of God, from wise persons and the law.
2. The second court we always face is that of the society around us. Since the world is a global village, now we have/or must get knowledge about the geo-political and economic issues which directly effect mankind. There are forces which exploit conditions for benefits. These forces include Governments, alliances, lobbies (even with in churches) which abuse for the sake of power and resources, underground groups who try to benefit from all places against merit and so on.
Over eating, remain relaxed as a bystander where you voice could bring about a change are such vital poisons we often dont consider.
We have a role towards all these concerns. Thinking our selves responsible and acting accordingly will defiantly change the world into a better place and our own lives. We cannot neglect the duties towards other even if we are living in a much settled and developed part of the world.
3. The third and most high is the Court of our Lord. That is where our thoughts, word and deeds are evaluated on daily basis, while we also will be facing the last Day of Judgment.
My personal assessment is that if every person feels accountable in all the three daily courts, we may have a bright future for all people living in the world specially the suffering world of Christians in Pakistan.
The resolution for this New Year for many would be to allow Jesus to take the driving seat in our lives, taking Him as our role model and master who was suffering at the hunger and sickness of the people around Him and wanted to heal the mankind as a whole, spiritually and physically.
Wishing you all with a blessed "New Year" with Jesus in the driving seat for the rest of the lives.
New Year celebrations started a few moments ago in Sydney. |
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PCC vows to file petition with UNO to grant refugee status to Pakistani Christians. Nazir Bhatti |
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Philadelphia: January 7, 2009. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC vowed to file memorandum with Secretary General of United Nation New York offices on January 12, 2008, |
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to grant Pakistani Christians a refugee status after polls on PCP when more them sixty two thousand voted to file this petition.
I condemn Pakistani establishment to use its machinery to vote against issue and raised negative votes up to sixty nine thousands within two nights which have been recorded by our web commands said Nazir Bhatti
Dr. Bhatti added I congratulate thousands of Christians who voted in favor of PCP polls which are ever biggest vote on any website around world on any polling
Christians are being persecuted and under constitutional genocide and reserve right of refugee status under UNO charter.
The government of Pakistan failed to oblige equal basic democratic rights to Christians and ensure justice to minorities.
Thousands of Christians have fled from Swat valley after taking over by Taliban and more are fleeing Peshawar and Nowshera districts of NWFP on threats to convert to Islam.
Nazir Bhatti said that in such mass movement of Christians on life threats by Taliban and failure of government to protection, the Christians deserve refugee status. |
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Malaysian Muslim activists oppose 'Allah' ruling |
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KUALA LUMPUR: January 2, 2010. (AFP) Muslim groups in Malaysia have voiced opposition to a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper the right to use the word "Allah", and said Saturday they plan to demonstrate. |
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Malaysia's high court ruled Thursday that the Herald weekly had the right to use the word "Allah" after a long-running dispute between the government and the paper in the Muslim-majority nation.
The Herald has been using the word "Allah" as a translation for "God" in its Malay-language section, but the government argued "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.
The court ruled the Catholic paper had the "constitutional right" to use the word 'Allah', declaring the government's ban on the word "illegal, null and void". Government lawyers have not yet decided whether to appeal.
Muslim groups have opposed the ruling.
"The court decision is not right and we are planning to hold a major demonstration to protest this," Syed Hassan Syed Ali, secretary general of Malay rights group Pribumi Perkasa told AFP.
He and 50 other Malay activists held a small protest over the ruling outside a central mosque Friday.
"We fear that the court victory will mean that Christian missionaries will now use the word, confusing (the identity of) Muslims and undermining religious harmony," he said.
Federation of Malay Students' Association advisor Reezal Merican said although the court decision had to be respected, the government needed to appeal it.
"We want to live in peace with all religions here but the word Allah has traditionally in Malaysia been used to represent the Muslim God, which is different from Christianity, and this must be addressed," he told AFP.
Northern Perak state mufti Harussani Zakaria was also critical of the verdict, calling it "an insult to Muslims in this country," according to the influential Malay-language Utusan Malaysia newspaper.
The Herald is printed in four languages, with a circulation of 14,000 copies a week in a country with about 850,000 Catholics.
The court case was among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised". |
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Israel-Palestine conflict: Islamists attack two Churches in Karachi |
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KARACHI: January 8, 2009. (ANS) Islamist fundamentalists in Pakistani city of Karachi in province Sindh attacked two churches on the eve of New Year. |
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Unidentified militants forcibly entered in Christ Awami Church located in Rasool Shah Colony on New Year night. They threatened the congregants to stop worshipping in the Church. When some Christian worshippers put up resistance the militants desecrated Holy Bibles, cross and hymn books besides smashing windows and door of the church.
Islamists also attacked a protestant church in Zia colony in Karachi. They broke churchs door and windows besides throwing garbage in the Church.
Local Christians told ANS that the attitude of the police officials of Boat Basin police station was callous and indifferent in the wake of attack on the Christ Awami Church.
Reacting to the apathetic attitude of the police the outraged Christians protested on Clifton road and dispersed peacefully after the police high-ups assured them stern action against the culprits.
Police lodged First Information Report on Jan. 2, a day after the occurrence. Police, ANS learnt have been lenient in imposing sections in the police information report.
Most of Pakistani based electronic media organizations came to cover the incident but they did not run the story. Three Pakistani based Urdu newspapers including Ummat, Daily Express and Victoria however covered the story.
Talking to ANS by phone former member of provincial assembly, Sindh, Michael Javaid said that he visited churches that came under attack in Rasool Shah Colony and in Zia colony.
He expressed solidarity with Pastors of the churches including Pastor Robi and Pastor Munir Bhatti.
Asked why the churches were attacked the former MP said it could be due to Muslim reaction over Palestine-Israel conflict
He criticized the police for not lodging a sterner blasphemy case against the culprits.
Christian residents of Karachi are going to stage a protest demonstration in front of Karachi Press Club at 3 pm on Monday. |
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Seven Egyptian Christians Sentenced to Prison |
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Egypt: January 5, 2010 (Mary Abdelmassih AINA) Seven Coptic Christians, including two priests, were sentenced to prison for allegedly being involved in a brawl in connection with a dispute over the purchase of a property by the Coptic Orthodox |
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Bishopric of Delga and Deir Mawas, 270 KM from Cairo. The Misdemeanor Court in Mallawi upheld a verdict passed by the First Instance Court in April, 2007. The Rev. Maximos Talat and Rev. Bolah Nassif - priest of St. George's Church were sentence to one week in prison and fined 200 Egyptian Pounds, "based on claims made by the 'aggressors' and without any legal basis," according to the their lawyer, Amgad Lamei.
In 2007 an adjacent property was legally acquired by the Bishopric from the Selim family. The dispute ensued after another neighbor, the Shaker family, said they have "right of first refusal" as they are cousins of the Selims, and subsequently occupied the property. The Bishopric obtained an eviction order from the Attorney General.
Attorney Amgad Lamei, who is also sentenced to prison, told Freecopts that during the execution of the eviction order on 4/15/2007, the Shaker family assaulted the party accompanying the two priests, in the presence of the police. "When I saw the brawl, I left the place with the priests and went to the police station to file a report about the incident," said Mr. Lamei. "We went at 14:00 to report the matter to the police, and found out at 17:00 that we had been accused." He expressed his surprise and disappointment at the verdict. He plans to take case to the Court of Cassation, but that will not stop the prison sentence.
There has been an escalation in the imprisonment of clergy. In October 2008 an Egyptian court sentenced Coptic priest Father Mettaos Wahba to five years hard labor. He was falsely accused of aiding a young Muslim woman in getting an ID card that had falsely indicated her religion as Christian, thus enabling her to marry a Christian man and flee Egypt. |
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Militants attack Pakistan forces, 40 rebels killed: military |
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PESHAWAR: January 11, 2009. (AFP) Hundreds of foreign militants attacked Pakistani forces near the border with Afghanistan, sparking clashes that left six soldiers and 40 militants dead, the military said Sunday. |
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The fierce fighting began late Saturday and continued early Sunday in the lawless Mohmand tribal area in northwest Pakistan, a known Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold, the military said in a statement.
The cross-border attack was the biggest in recent months against Pakistan's security forces, who are battling to flush out militants in several areas of the country's restive northwest.
The rugged border area is a key battleground in the US-led "war on terror", with extremists operating on both sides and using "safe havens" in Pakistan from which they are said to launch attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Most of the insurgents came from the Afghan side of the border and were joined by local Taliban fighters. The combined force of about 600 militants then attacked a Pakistani paramilitary Frontier Corps base near the border.
The militants, armed with mortars, rocket launchers and grenades, attacked the fort at Mamad Gate -- where members of Pakistan's elite Quick Reaction Force were stationed -- from several directions, officials and witnesses told AFP.
"Frontier Corps troops repulsed a massive attack by militants on one of its locations in the area," the military said in a statement, adding that "severe fighting continued through the night".
Residents told AFP the bodies of militants were left on the ground in the area.
Seven soldiers were wounded in the gun battles, the military said, adding that paramilitary troops "inflicted heavy casualties" on the militants, without giving a toll for the enemy wounded.
Most of the attackers fled under heavy military fire, a security official told AFP. Some of the fighters surrendered, a military spokesman said later, without giving a specific figure.
Sporadic gun battles continued for a few hours early Sunday, the military said. Residents saw helicopters overhead but officials did not say if they had attacked rebel positions.
Security forces sealed all roads in the area and also in the neighbouring Bajaur tribal area, where the military is also battling militants, residents said.
Islamabad and Kabul have been unable to rein in the extremists that have been holed up in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas since they fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion that drove out the Taliban government in late 2001.
Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said during a visit to Kabul by his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari the two countries had a "new relationship" and determination to defeat terrorism and extremism together.
Karzai had previously accused Islamabad of not doing enough to shut down militant "sanctuaries" in the tribal badlands and stop insurgents from crossing into Afghanistan.
Pakistan rejected those accusations, pointing to its operation in Bajaur, which borders Mohmand and Afghanistan. The military says more than 1,500 rebels have been killed there since August.
Pakistan late last month mounted a major offensive in the Khyber tribal area south of Mohmand to clear militants from the area along a key highway used by trucks ferrying supplies to NATO and US-led troops in Afghanistan.
The highway has since been reopened during daytime hours.
In another troubled tribal area, South Waziristan, masked gunmen abducted a senior local government official early Sunday, police said. The identity of the kidnappers was not immediately clear. |
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Christians in Pakistan will press for demand to repeal blasphemy law |
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Karachi: January 6, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC said that we will never withdraw from demand to repeal blasphemy |
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law nor will allow any Christian tool of government to hatch conspiracy to sabotage campaign against implementation of Islamic laws on religious minorities in Pakistan.
In a telephonic address to leaders and members of Central Council of PCC, Nazir Bhatti urged to expedite movement to repeal blasphemy law and to finalize lawsuit filing in Supreme Court of Pakistan to challenge this controversial black law.
Ultimate solution to our issues depends in our unity and successful movement which is being damaged by some anti Christian unity lobby attempts to highjack our campaign by substandard presentations in UNHRC and EU to credit Black Day observed by 20 million Pakistani Christians on call of PCC on August 11, 2009 said Dr. Nazir Bhatti
Nazir Bhatti said that PCC have confirm belief that Supreme Court of Pakistan will ensure justice for Christians in Pakistan and filing of lawsuit to repeal blasphemy law will result to end violence against Christians.
The government of Pakistan announced to hold a meeting to finalize draft bill to amend blasphemy law on January 2010, in Islamabad and Pakistan Christian Congress is watching very closely on proceeding of this event.
It is impression among Christians in Pakistan that January 10, 2010, moot of government officials and minority parliamentarians will fail on reaching any consensus like previous held in October 2009.
The PPP, PML(N) and MQM selected Christian, Hindu and Ahmedi members in National Assembly and four provincial assemblies want procedural amendment in blasphemy law while PML(Q) stresses on repeal of blasphemy law.
PCC have also rejected any procedural amendment in blasphemy law and demanded repeal of law because Musharraf regime also announced amendments but incidents of Bahminwala, Korian and Gojra happened on pretext to blasphemy law. |
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My response to one propaganda letter against me: Nazir S Bhatti |
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I regret for late reply to one propaganda letter circulated against me by one of our respectable educationists from Karachi. (I am not presenting that letter because same is circulated by E-Mails to thousands) |
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I was preparing memorandum for submission to Secretary General of United Nations to grant refugee status to oppressed Pakistani Christian nation which caused delay to respond to my readers of Pakistan Christian Post.
I was surprised to read that letter which was clear index of denial to facts because all actions on different political and social issues initiated by Martyr Bishop John Joseph were put in bag of Shahbaz Bhatti who never led any protest against inclusion of religion column in national identity card nor he was arrested during any campaign against discriminatory laws. Can any one present media report or FIR registered against him in any police station of Pakistan? Is there any evidence that Shahbaz Bhatti filed any lawsuit in any Higher Court of Pakistan to repeal blasphemy laws? Did he raise voice against blasphemy law on floor of house or being federal minister announced to repeal such discriminatory laws? There is complete silence on major issues by Shahbaz Bhatti and Pakistan Peoples Party government!!!
There are many press conferences and seminars in five star hotels of Lahore and Islamabad in lot of Shahbaz Bhatti where he made statements to ensure justice and equal democratic rights for poor Christians. Did any participant or my brother who wrote me letter, ever enquired from Shahbaz Bhatti that who is funding such expensive functions? These questions are still un-answered and need clarifications!!!
It is also argued that Shahbaz Bhatti have compelled government to increase reserved seats for minorities in Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies but it is still an announcement without any notification while no one knows weather Muslim feudal lords of PPP and PML shall endorse such addition. If they do such legislation it will benefit Muslim political parties to select Christian and Hindus of their own choice to impose on minorities. Why so? It is also interesting part of ill-fated oppressed Christian nation that their so called leaders like Shahbaz Bhatti demanded Joint Electorate, the system which enables Muslim group to select Christian representation for assemblies and snatches rights to elect their leaders by their votes.
There is roar of Quota system also among some Christians but keep close eye and believe when first Christian student enters in medical college or engineering college in Pakistan or gets job in grade sixteen. This quota system announcement is not achievement of Shahbaz Bhatti also because PML announced it in Punjab province first than federal government.
I doubt that writer of letter is not based in Karachi or have very little knowledge about Christian socio-political struggle. I spare him because he is an educationist and might have never dared to participate in any social action of Christians of Sindh. It is also draw back of Pakistani Christian nation that those who become successful in any class of life start drawing distance from poor community and it can be character of my letter writer for which I shall excuse him.
I never wrote about my struggle for Christian nation nor I tried to tell my friends here but still any one can read about me in my book Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation which is available as E-Book on Website of Pakistan Christian Post and Pakistan Christian Congress.
But, I must convey a message to all my friends that Christian settled abroad are performing precious services by raising voice for oppressed and persecuted Pakistani Christian. The busy and hard life style of Western society have forced many to forget their own families but those who dare to protest and express concern for their nation in Pakistan must not be under-estimated or doubted by any self styled critic or supporter of any Muslim political group. I cannot forget feeling of satisfaction after reading news items of protest procession on blasphemy laws by British Pakistan Christians. Sometimes, I expected more quick actions on incidents of victimization of Christians by Western Pakistani Christians but after exile I admit that they did tremendous service.
I am proud to be a worker of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC because it never bargained on principals. PCC was only political party from Sindh to protest against inclusion of religion column in national identity card at Regal Chowk Karachi when 32 PCC activists were arrested and locked up in Preedy Police Station. The PCC filed lawsuit to repeal blasphemy laws in Lahore High Court and staged numerous hunger strikes against discriminatory laws. PCC filed lawsuit in Lahore High Court to make public the report of tribunal constituted to investigate incident of Shanti Nagar. PCC filed lawsuit in Federal Shariat Court Islamabad to review judgment-awarding death sentence on blasphemy laws. The proceedings of all these lawsuits were published in Pakistani news media and can be verified by archives.
No one can forget, February 13, 1998, when Christian youth protested to condemn attack on Shanti Nagar by Muslim mob jammed Karachi. It is on record that one Christian was martyred and 9 injured by police firing while tear gas shells near Sindh Governor House injured hundreds. The Karachi police arrested 1000 Christians but later released 700 hundred teenagers and charged 382 under creating law and order situation. I was leading that procession and 21 FIR were registered against me under section 302, 301, 224, 148, 146, 144, 298, 295 B and others. I am declared absconder in all these cases in session courts of Karachi, which can be verified.
I always thought myself in exile and all my interviews with reputed international media are as Christian in Exile which can be viewed on web. I commissioned Pakistan Christian Post PCP to raise voice for my poor oppressed Christian nation and build bridge among true Christian groups in Pakistan.
I have confirm believe that Christian unity is ultimate solution to our problems and Muslim political parties want to keep us slaves and planning to curb our voice.
Ask Shahbaz Bhatti to press upon government of Pakistan to withdraw politically motivated charges of treason, murder and blasphemy against me and I will be in Pakistan next morning. My friends arranged a meeting with Ex-Premier Shaukat Aziz in New York in winter of 2007, that government may drop cases against me also like Asif Zardari and Benazir Bhutto to pave way for me to enter in Pakistan again but same turned in argument before many ministers, Pakistani newspaper editors and Muslim delegates of USA on my demand of Dual Voting right for Christians.
I came to USA to deliver lecture in UNO on celebrations of Human Right Day Declaration in 1995. After my speech, Pakistan Mission delegates who threatened and confronted with me but still I decided to go back and contested elections. I was in USA to deliver lecture in Harvard University Boston on Islamic laws and Minorities in Pakistan but I went back home.
I left Pakistan on suggestion of my friends when IB attempted to pick me up to lock at any disclosed place without any charges for un-limited time when I was expecting Artillery Median, Saddar Police Station and Gora Qabristan Police Station officials to arrest me where all political motivated cases were registered against me on leading procession.
I have written many articles about Shahbaz Bhatti but I never discussed his personnel life. I appeal every one to criticize any ones political moves against poor Pakistani Christian Nation but not personnel life. The Pakistan Christian Post is for Christian leaders and every Christian shall be covered in PCP.
Again, I openly declare that I am in Exile and want to comeback to start movement with my people for equal rights in Pakistan. |
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Extremist Muslims gun down 7 Coptic Christians in Egypt |
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Nag Hammadi: January 7, 2010. (PCP) The Egyptian Coptic Christians Christmas feast turned in mourning rituals when gunmen opened fire on worshipers after midnight services in town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. |
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According to news agencies 7 Coptic worshipers are reported dead and many injured in drive-by shooting outside Virgin Marcy Church in Nag Hammadi, about 46 miles from tourist city of Luxor in Southern Egypt.
There have been widespread violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt who are more than 10% of total population. The enforced conversion and abduction of Christians girls by influential Muslim majority members is routine matter in Egypt and justice is never ensured on calls by Coptic Christian leaders.
The Interior Ministry said the attack seems to be in retaliation for the rape of a 12-year-old Muslim girl by a Christian man in the town while Egyptian administration never accepted facts about enforced conversion for marriages of Coptic Christian girls in past.
The AFP reports that Clashes broke out Thursday in southern Egypt between more than 2,000 Christian Copts and police after the Christmas Eve killing of six Copts in a drive-by shooting, police officials said.
The violence broke out in the southern town of Nagaa Hammadi where a policeman was also killed and six Copts wounded Wednesday when three men in a car opened fire on Christmas eve shoppers in the centre of town, they said.
Thursday's clashes erupted outside a hospital morgue where the bodies of the six Christians killed the previous day were kept, with protesters hurling stones at law enforcing agents and police firing tear gas, the official said.
Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have condemned attack on Coptic Christian worshipers on Christmas Eve in Egypt and expressed concern on safety and security of Coptic Christians.
Nazir Bhatti in a condolence messages to Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, President of the Voice of the Copts, based in USA, expressed solidarity with Coptic Christians in Egypt and urged international community to take notice of violence against Coptic Christians. |
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Gaza toll passes 1,000 as Israeli raids continue |
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GAZA CITY: January 14, 2009. (AFP) Israel carried out fresh air raids across Gaza on Thursday and ground troops waged more street battles as its war entered entered a 20th day and the death toll passed 1,000 despite hopes of a truce. |
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After United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in the region seeking to end the conflict, diplomats said Hamas has accepted an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, although the Islamists merely indicated support for its broad outlines.
The head of Gaza's emergency services Moawiya Hassanein told AFP 1,038 people have been killed in the Hamas-run territory while a further 4,850 people have been wounded since the December 27 launch of Operation Cast Lead.
Israeli warplanes blasted Gaza's southern border with Egypt, carrying out some three dozen bombing raids and sending panicked residents fleeing, witnesses said.
At least 16 people were killed in the night-time raids across the territory, including a 13-year-old boy in a Gaza City neighbourhood and two suspected militants near Jabaliya refugee camp in the north.
The Israeli military said the air force struck nine rocket launch pads and three smuggling tunnels as they pushed on with their bid to prevent the Islamists from firing rockets and missiles across the border.
A total of 15 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza, the army said, a fraction of those fired at the start of the war on December 27. Some were also fired from Lebanon in the second such attack in less than a week.
A senior Israeli defence official told AFP that the war, which has killed some 400 civilians and has sparked outrage across the Muslim world, could well continue until the January 20 inauguration of US president-elect Barack Obama.
"Israel is still waiting for guarantees on solving the issue of weapon smuggling and things are moving in Cairo," he said on condition of anonymity.
"Nevertheless, Israel is not feeling any pressure at this point to end the operation," he added.
Hamas has remained defiant throughout the campaign, with its prime minister Ismail Haniya insisting earlier this week it was nearing victory over the Jewish state.
But a Gaza-based leader of the Islamist group said after talks with officials in Cairo that it did not reject the "broad outlines" of an Egyptian-brokered truce plan, without accepting the plan outright.
"President (Hosni) Mubarak's vision is the only one that was proposed, we don't ask for any amendment to its broad outlines," Salah al-Bardawil told journalists in Cairo.
He said Hamas has "presented to the Egyptian leadership our detailed vision," despite the fact Egyptian and Spanish diplomats said Hamas had accepted the plan.
The Islamists' vision is to be put to senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad when he visits Cairo on Thursday to discuss the initiative.
Diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire are to mount on Thursday, with the UN General Assembly to hold an emergency session and the Gulf Cooperation Council to also meet at an emergency summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Israel has made ending the offensive conditional on a complete halt to rocket fire against the south of the country and stemming arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
But a senior US State Department said Hamas has yet to meet the terms for a ceasefire.
"It's not a done deal yet. They're still working it. There are a number of Hamas conditions that are having to be dealt with," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity after the White House voiced scepticism about Hamas.
In Cairo, Ban again pleaded for "an immediate and durable ceasefire," at the start of a trip that will take him to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and an Arab League summit next Monday in Kuwait.
The diplomatic fallout from Israeli's deadliest ever offensive in the impoverished strip became evident when a senior European Union official said talks on upgrading ties with the Jewish state have been put on hold.
"Both sides realise it is a convenient time for a time-out," Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, head of the European Commission delegation to Israel, said.
And Bolivian President Evo Morales said his country had severed ties with Israel to protest the Gaza war, a move later matched by Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez had already expelled Israel's ambassador on January 6.
In a recording posted on the Internet entitled "A Call for Jihad to Stop Aggression Against Gaza," Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden called for a holy war to restore "Jerusalem and Palestine."
The Al-Qaeda leader also criticised the Arab handling of the Gaza conflict.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks since December 27.
The offensive has sparked widespread concern about a humanitarian crisis breaking out in one of the world's most densely populated places where the vast majority of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, speaking after a visit to Gaza's main hospital, described the situation as "shocking". |
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Churches Bombed in Malaysia Over Use of 'Allah' |
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KUALA LUMPUR: January 8, 2009. (Lauren Frayer) Three churches were firebombed early Friday in Malaysia amid escalating tension over use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims in the country |
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Attackers threw a homemade gasoline bomb at a church in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and tried to set fire to two other churches in a nearby suburb, according to witnesses and officials quoted by news agencies.
It's all part of a row that began when a Roman Catholic newsletter, the Herald, challenged a government ban on non-Muslims using the word "Allah" in any publications. It's originally an Arabic word, but has come to be used by Muslims globally to describe their god.
A police officer inspects bomb damage Friday at a church in Desa Melawati, Malaysia.
The Catholic newsletter wanted to use the word in its Malay-language edition, arguing that for Christian indigenous tribes in eastern Malaysia, "Allah" is the only word they have ever known to describe their god.
Last week, a Malaysian court overturned the ban on use of the word by non-Muslims which sparked an outcry from the country's majority Muslims, some of whom say "Allah" is exclusive to Islam. A judge has since suspended implementation of the ruling, after the government appealed and the Catholic church agreed to the move to avoid any violence.
Malaysia's prime minister and the head of the country's largest Muslim opposition party both condemned Friday's attacks. Police have stepped up patrols around churches, and some Christian communities are hiring security guards.
On Thursday, hackers broke into the Web site of the Malaysian judiciary and wrote threatening messages referring to the court ruling: "Allah only restricted to Muslim only," read one message. The Web site of the Herald has also been vandalized in recent days.
Muslim groups held protest rallies after prayers at mosques across Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Most were peaceful demonstrations that stayed within the walls of mosque compounds.
In the first church attacked Friday, witnesses spotted four people on motorcycles pull up to the Metro Tabernacle Church just after midnight, break a window at the front of the church and throw something inside. Fire gutted administrative offices on the building's first floor, according to a statement on the Herald's Web site.
Molotov cocktails were thrown into two other churches in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur just before dawn, causing minor damage, it said. No one was injured in any of the attacks.
All three churches are Protestant, with no ties to the Roman Catholic church.
Malaysia's home minister, Hishammudin Hussein, appealed for calm after Friday's attacks and said he wants to make sure all religious groups in the country are safe.
"I take the events that happened last night very seriously," Hussein told Al-Jazeera. "We want to assure the public that this was not a coordinated and well-planned action." |
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Pope backs Gaza peace efforts |
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VATICAN CITY: January 18,2009. Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday backed efforts to end the Gaza war and offered prayers for the innocent victims of the conflict. |
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The pope called for support for all those trying to "stop the tragedy" in the Gaza Strip, just hours ahead of a summit on the crisis at Sharm El-Sheik, in Egypt.
He gave support to "those who, on one side and the other, believe that there is a place for everyone in the Holy Land."
The pontiff expressed hope that all sides could "help their populations pick themselves up from the ruins and the terror and courageously pick up again the thread of dialogue, in justice and in truth."
Speaking during weekly prayers at the Vatican, he also prayed for the hundreds of children, elderly and women killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas -- "innocent victims of an unheard of violence."
He called for Catholics to pray for "the efforts of numerous people of good will who are working to stop the tragedy."
Egypt was to host a summit of top European leaders and UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday to seek a lasting truce in the Gaza Strip after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire.
The 22-day-long campaign to stop Hamas firing rockets into Israeli territory has killed at least 1,300 people, including more than 400 children, wounded another 5,300, and left large swathes of the enclave in ruins.
On the Israeli side three civilians and 10 soldiers were killed in combat and rocket attacks.
The pope on Saturday sent aid to the Gaza Strip for Catholics there to distribute to Palestinian victims of the conflict.AFP |
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Commissioning of Catholic TV channel in Pakistan welcomed by PCC |
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Karachi: January 9, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have congratulated Mgr. Evaristo Pinto, archbishop of diocese of Karachi on commissioning of Good News TV Channel. |
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Good News TV is commissioned on cable and satellite by Catholic Church of Pakistan, Karachi diocese on January 8, 2009.
It was need of time to launch any TV channel by Christians in Pakistan and Good News TV can play positive role to evangelize and offer religious program for millions of Pakistani Christians said Nazir Bhatti
Nazir S Bhatti added Pakistani Christian believe that heavy funds used to launch Good News TV will be an investment to revive true spirit of Christianity among Christian believers not to promote political agenda of Pakistan Peoples Party or any other Muslim political group
It is on record that Catholic Church of Pakistan have never sincerely served poor Christians but established magazines and Human Right Commission to propagate against Separate Electorate in conspiracy with Pakistan Peoples Party PPP and military ruler General Musharraf.
Pakistani Christians never demanded Joint Electorate but were enjoying Separate Electorate and electing their representatives in National Assembly of Pakistan and Provincial Assemblies.
Joint Electorate was imposed on Christians by General Pervaiz Musharraf in 2002, when right of electing Christian leaders by Christian vote was snatched and Muslim political parties were empowered to select Christians in Parliament.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace NCJP formed by Catholic Church of Pakistan was instrumented against Separate Electorate and international community was misled to favor Joint Electorate.
Nazir Bhatti said Catholic Church stabbed in back of 20 million Pakistani Christians by spending millions of dollars to propagate against Separate Electorate and funded tours of Shahbaz Bhatti, leader of Christian Liberation Front and Pater Jacob, Secretary of NCJP to make presentations before US Human Right Commission and UN
I hope Good News TV will serve Christians and not used to promote political agenda of Islamic Parties said Nazir Bhatti
It is ironic that Catholic Church of Pakistan is spending heavy amount on tours of NCJP leaders against Islamic laws but have never bothered to hire any attorney and file lawsuit to repeal blasphemy law in higher courts of Pakistan because clergy is not sincere in any practical action but cashing the issue. |
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Christian demand seats in Senate of Pakistan under Dual Voting not selection. Nazir Bhatti |
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Karachi: January 19, 2009. President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, in a telephonic address to members of PCC Central Council, urged to launch movement against selection of any minority Senator in forthcoming elections of Sen |
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because selection is un-democratic while he stressed to abolish imposed Joint Electorate system which enables Muslim political parties to select minority members of their choice in parliament.
Nazir Bhatti stressed upon Christian youth to unite and reject any selection of Christian in Senate of Pakistan by any Muslim political party because Muslim groups want to keep us slaves using their whip in hands of these selected leaders.
We not trust in Pakistan Peoples Party PPP government nor on commitment of Premier Yousaf Gillani who announced in parliament to allocate party ticket to minorities in Senate elections because Martyr Benazir Bhutto promised to abolish Joint Electorate and legislate Dual Voting rights that Christians may elect their leadership by their votes in Senate of Pakistan, National Assembly of Pakistan and Provincial Assemblies said Nazir S Bhatti
Bhatti added If PPP government is sincere with agenda of Martyr BB then Prime Minister Gillani must present a bill in National Assembly to legislate Dual Voting rights with increase in seats proportional to population that Christian parliamentarians may elect Christian Senators
Separate Electorate was demand by SP Singha and Raliaram during Pakistan Movements which was practiced till 1956 after independence of Pakistan in 1947.
In Separate Election System, Christians elect their representatives by their votes but Joint Electorate empowers Muslim to select Christian of their choice.
On demand of Joshua Fazal Din, Deputy Speaker of West Pakistan Assembly and Christian partner in Pakistan Movement, Separate Electorate were revived in 1985 which were being practiced till 2000. Pakistani Christians were fully satisfied with Separate Election system and elected leaders raised voice for rights on floor of house which was not liked by Muslim feudal lords and business tycoon.
Muslim political groups and establishment engaged few Christian tools to raise voice against Separate Electorate to demand Joint election that they may enjoy Christian vote bank and may add to their numbers in parliament by selecting Christians of their books to end Christians voice in Pakistan.
Nazir Bhatti urged President Asif Zardari to issue executive order to enforce Dual Voting right for minorities, repeal of blasphemy law, increase in Christian representation proportional to population in all democratic institutions and special reservation for Christian students in medical and engineering colleges.
Nazir Bhatti said Christians do not trust any statement of Shahbaz Bhatti to repeal blasphemy laws because he is selected by PPP and not any elected leader that he may present any bill or raise voice in house without permission of Asif Zardari or Yousaf Gillani |
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Violence Against Christians Continues in Egypt After Christmas Eve Shootings |
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Egypt: January 11, 2010. (By Mary Abdelmassih AINA) -- Violence broke out in the evening of January 8, 2010, in the southern Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi, |
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in the main market and 'Bein el Mehatat' area, spreading as well to the neighbouring town of Bahgoura. Muslim mobs used swords, butane gas cylinders for explosions and Molotov cocktails to loot and torch Coptic-owned homes, shops and cars.
Mary Om Boktor Kyrollos, a Coptic widow from Bahgoura, died of fumes after her home was torched yesterday by Muslims while she was indoors. She was buried in the early hours of January 09, 2010.
Reverend Misaeel, pastor of the church in Bahgoura told Coptic News that violence started on Friday at 20:00. In Bahgoura, 3 kilometers from Nag Hammadi, where most of the violence took place, inhabitants confirmed that water and electricity were disconnected in the evening, during the fires. "Fire brigades arrive 90 minutes late, and the vehicles which arrived had empty tanks."
Eyewitnesses said the perpetrators were chanting "Allah is Great" and "No God except Allah" while destroying, looting and torching Coptic property.
"When the State Security forces are not present, the Muslims come to loot and burn, and when the forces return to the area, the Muslims disappear. They simply do not arrest them, they just tell them to go away," an eye witnesses told Coptic News Bulletin in an interview. "State Security is only present in front of the Coptic Diocese."
Complete absence of security forces was confirmed by another eyewitness. "All Copts are terrified and are staying indoors," he said.
According to Free Copts, Muslims mobs were led by elements loyal to the first defendant in the Christmas Eve Massacre on January 6, 2010, when the Christian congregation was sprayed with bullets as they came out of church after celebrating the Coptic Christmas Eve mass. 8 were killed and 15 wounded (AINA 1-7-2010).
Funeral services for the victims of the Christmas shootings took place on Thursday, led by Bishop Kyrillos of the Nag Hammadi Diocese, and was attended by several thousand Copts. (video of funeral). It was reported that Muslims pelted the funeral procession with stones. |
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Propaganda mails can not hold on Christian movement in Pakistan: Nazir Bhatti |
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Philadelphia: January 20, 20009. Dr. Nazir s Bhatti, founder President of Pakistan Christian congress PCC said that Sada is good poet but living on salary of Catholic Church established Study Center in Pakistan, so, he speaks what Bishops Confere |
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PCC respects Mr. Cecil on his services in war against India but questions him why he came parasite on Christian Church. Can not you get job in any other Semi-government establishment instead of catholic School.
Catholic church have served Muslims more than Christians to keep it on in name of service in Pakistan but I urge to change policy said Nazir Bhatti
The Catholic Church started Christian Voice on net in 2000 but closed it from Rawalpindi on lack of funds. Pakistan Christian Post PCP was established on 2000 with my family funds and still keeping on to voice for Pakistani Christians added Nazir Bhatti
Dr. Nazir Bhatti urged on Mehboob Sada and Cecil Choudry to join Christians and leave job of Catholic Church in Pakistan because oppressed Christian nation need you.
If Catholic Church was sincere in Service then every Pakistani Catholic was educated in Pakistan but we know that Catholic Church ran as an industry and Catholic is uneducated in Pakistan.
Nazir Bhatti urged Vatican to look in to Catholic Church of Pakistan where is no Punjabi Christian bishop and all are non-Punjabi Bishops.
Please listen. I am running PCP with my funds and you can not damage it because it is voice of millions of Christians and you can not stop it.
I urge Cecil Chaurdy and Mehboob Sada to withdraw from statement to ban PCP in Pakistan unless I will be forced to file against them of damages,
I invite Cecil and Saba to be friends of Pakistani Nation instead of their masters because Christian nation is suffering in Pakistan. |
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Pope meets, forgives woman who knocked him down |
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VATICAN CITY: January 13, 2009. (AP) Pope Benedict XVI met on Wednesday with the woman who knocked him over at St. Peter's Basilica during Christmas Eve Mass, and he forgave her, the Vatican said. |
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Susanna Maiolo, a 25-year-old with a history of psychiatric problems, and her family met in a private audience with the pope at the end of his general audience, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.
Maiolo told the pontiff she was sorry for what had happened, while Benedict inquired about her health and "wanted to demonstrate his forgiveness," Lombardi said in a statement.
The Vatican said no photos or video would be released of the meeting.
Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national, jumped a security barricade in St. Peter's Basilica at the start of Christmas Eve Mass and pulled Benedict down when a security guard tackled her. The pope was unhurt.
Maiolo had tried to reach the pope in the same way during the 2008 Midnight Mass service but didn't manage to get to him. She has been treated at a clinic outside Rome since the incident.
While there, she received a visit from Benedict's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, who had wanted to show the pontiff's concern for her well-being, the Vatican said at the time.
The Vatican investigation into the incident continues, Lombardi said. A retired Vatican diplomat, French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, fractured his hip in the commotion and had to undergo surgery. Benedict visited Etchegaray in the hospital last week.
Benedict's decision to meet with Maiolo and forgive her follows a similar gesture by Pope John Paul II.
In 1983, John Paul met with and forgave Mehmet Ali Agca while the gunman was serving a 19-year sentence in an Italian prison for having shot the pope in 1981 in St. Peter's Square.
On Monday, Agca, 52, ends another 10-year prison sentence for killing a Turkish journalist in 1979. He told reporters in Turkey on Wednesday that he would answer questions about the attack after his release. Through the years, he has given various and often contradictory accounts of who was behind the attack. |
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Pope to court faithful on new YouTube channel, |
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Vatican City: January 21, 2009. The Holy See appears set to start riding the Web 2.0 wave. |
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According to a report in a British newspaper, the Vatican is set to launch its own channel on YouTube, posting video and audio clips of Pope Benedict XVI's addresses, along with news about the pontiff.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Vatican will announce its plans for YouTube this week. Oliver Rickman, a spokesman for Google Inc., which owns YouTube, said in an e-mail to Computerworld that many world leaders, such as Queen Elizabeth II and the U.S. Senate communicate with constituents via You Tube. However, he declined to confirm whether the pope is about to start his own channel.
The Vatican could not be reached for comment.
Pope Benedict XVI may be taking a page from other public figures who have successfully used social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to get their messages across. President Barack Obama, who was inaugurated as the 44th U.S. president yesterday, seemingly showed other politicians what it means to harness the power of the Web. During his campaign for president, the then-senator went beyond the somewhat static Web pages of most past campaigns and tapped the power of Web 2.0 tools, including Facebook, YouTube, blogs and discussion boards, to create a conversation with potential voters.
For the Roman Catholic Church, creating a YouTube channel "is a good idea," said Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc. "In fact, it's one of their best ideas. The problem for the church is getting to the grass roots in a vast worldwide audience. They have to get their message to people in the medium that they're using."
This isn't the Vatican's first foray into the online world.
About 14 years ago, the Vatican launched its own Web site, www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm, offering access to Vatican Secret Archives and Vatican Museums. It even sports a section all in Latin.
The Catholic News Service, which is connected with the Vatican, is no online slouch either, running its own Facebook page, which includes the Pope's greeting to Obama, as well as news stories, notes and blogs. |
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Pakistan: Christian Youth Sentenced Life Imprisonment under Blasphemy Laws |
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Faisalabad: January 15, 2010: (Shahid Anwar reports for PCP) On 11th January 2010, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Additional & Session Judge, Faisalabad convicted the accused Imran Masih u/s 295-A PPC |
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and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years plus a fine of Rs. 100,000.00/- and in default of payment, he will further undergo for 6 months. Imran Masih was also convicted u/s 295-B PPC for defiling, damaging and desecrating the extracts of Holy Quran and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is now in judicial lockup of District Jail Faisalabad to serve out the sentences awarded to him.
Imran Masih (Shopkeeper) from Hajwery Town in Faisalabad indicted and arrested on charges of blasphemy law; Article 295 paragraph A and B of the Pakistan Penal Code dates back on to 1st July of 2009. He had received charges for intentionally set on fire the Quranic verses and an Arabic Book in order to instigate religious hatred and outrage the feelings of Muslims.
On the day of incident, he collected some rough papers and unnecessary books during cleaning up his shop, to dispose off. When he started blazing the waste papers, Haji Liaqat Abdul Gafoor (neighboring shopkeeper) started shouting that Imran Masih was burning the pages of Holy Quran. The Muslims of the locality gathered, they severely beat Imran Masih and damaged his shop too. The story spread among the mosques of the surrounding area, started inciting Muslims to take part in the assault, to take revenge from Christians for this outrageous act. A large number of Muslims including clerics assembled, they staged a protest, blocked the roads, chanted slogans against Christian and demanded shouting "Death to blasphemers in public. Meanwhile, police arrived at the occurrence, took the Imran Masih into custody and framed a blasphemy case against him in FIR No. 622/09. (Shahid Anwar works with NCJP Faisalabad) |
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ICC Requests Pardon for Imprisoned UK Missionary Couple in Gambia |
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Washington DC: January 21, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has learned that a missionary couple from the United Kingdom have been sentenced to one year of imprisonment with h |
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The sentence which was passed on December 30, 2008, also includes a fine of 250,000 dalasis (about $ 9,524). According to the court, the couple will be imprisoned for an additional six months if they do not pay the fine.
David Fulton, 60, and his wife, Fiona, 47, have been living in The Gambia for the past ten years. Mr. Fulton worked to spread the gospel in remote villages of The Gambia, and Mrs. Fulton was mainly involved in humanitarian assistance to poor and marginalized people.
"They are evangelical missionaries who have seen some people come to know the Lord. There is no political motive in what they do at all," said Martin Speed in the statement he gave to ICC. Mr. Speed is the Pastor of the Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton, England. His church was one of the churches that had been financially supporting David and Fiona.
A friend of the couple who spoke to ICC indicated that David is understood to be suffering form scurvy and has not yet received medical attention. Fiona may also be suffering from a mouth ulcer.
CC has also learned that The Gambian authorities have barred anyone from visiting the couple for a period of one month beginning from the date of sentencing.
Sedition Charges
Gambian authorities accused the couple of making seditious statements in the emails they wrote to their friends and supporters in the UK. Following the verdict, the government controlled newspaper, Daily Observer, stated, "Apparently, the aim of David and his wife was to inflict maximum damage on the exemplary relationship that exists between the two religions of Christianity and Islam in this unquestionably peaceful nation."
David and Fiona pleaded guilty to the allegation of sedition after consulting with their lawyer. Following the verdict, they also wrote a letter to the president of The Gambia pleading for clemency. In the letter they wrote, "We certainly had no intention to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the president or the government of the Gambia. We humbly apologise totally, unreservedly and without exception for anything and everything that we have said that has caused offence and we fully and publicly withdraw any such remarks. We apologise to the Security Services for the trouble we have caused them."
ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, stated, "We politely ask the officials of the government of The Gambia to release David and Fiona considering their relentless effort to help the poor and the marginalized section of the society in the county and considering the poor state of their health." He also added, "We would like to ask his Excellency Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, the president of The Gambia, to accept the couple's plea for clemency."
lease pray for the safe release of David and Fiona and for their health. Pray that God will give them comfort and courage as they go through this difficult time. |
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Pope entrusts victims of Haitian tragedy to Virgin Mary |
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Vatican City: January 18, 2010. (CNA).After praying the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI remembered those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. |
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He prayed that patroness of Haiti, the Virgin Mary, protect and assist them so that they might "find aid and comfort."
The Holy Father mentioned that through contact with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, he is keeping "constantly informed" as to the situation on the ground in the island country. Pope Benedict said that he heard from Archbishop Auza of the death of Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Serge Miot, and so many other priests, religious and seminarians.
Pope Benedict assured the charitable organizations who are "taking charge of the immense need of the country" that they have his support.
"I pray for the injured, for the homeless and for everyone who has tragically lost their life," he said.
Following the Angelus, as Benedict XVI addressed the French-speaking pilgrims, he entrusted the care of the "dear Haitian population" to the protection of the Holy Virgin in their current trials, so that they might "find aid and comfort."
The Pope finished by exclaiming in prayer, "May Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti, protect her children!" |
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Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put elected politician Geert Wilders on trial for making anti-Islamic statements. |
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Netherland: January 21. 2009 "The Amsterdam appeals court has ordered the prosecution of member of parliament Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination, based on comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs," the court sa |
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"The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders," it added.
How things have moved to the worst since Europe defeated Nazism in 1945. The most prominent European fighting Nazi tyranny had this to say about Islam:-
How dreadful are the curses which Islam lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute propertyeither as a child, a wife, or a concubine must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. |
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Pakistan: Catholic Bishops Conference not sincere in demand to repeal blasphemy. |
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Karachi; January 19, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC said that National Commission for Justice and Peace NCJP, |
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established by Catholic Church of Pakistan and Bishops Conference in Pakistan is not serious on common Christians demand to repeal blasphemy in Pakistan which is source of violence against Christians but planning to hijack movement against controversial law on intimation of PPP government.
The Pakistani Christians staged protests in every city and town of Pakistan on August 11, 2009, by observing successful Black Day on Pakistan Christian Congress PCC call against burning alive of Christians in Gojra on pretext to blasphemy law by Muslim mob while Christian clergy-PPP government announced Minority Day which was ignored by people.
PCC terms NCJP signatures campaign to repeal blasphemy law instead of filing lawsuit in Supreme Court of Pakistan is on intimation of Pakistan Peoples Party PPP government in Pakistan to derail movement against blasphemy law said Nazir Bhatti
The Islamic parties in Pakistan can present million signatures and bring hundred thousand activists on streets to press upon government to block repeal of blasphemy law if NCJP comes out with one hundred thousand signature.
The Islamists in Pakistan have already threatened street power of million if PPP government amends or repeals blasphemy law and Islamic Parties staged protest to counter Christians Black Day to repeal blasphemy law on August 11, 2009.
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC announced to file lawsuit in Supreme Court of Pakistan and invited NCJP leaders during recent visit to USA to share costs of lawsuit and join as petitioner but same was denied when Bishops Conference in Pakistan and NCJP is spending millions from poor Christians funds on tours to USA and Europe to hijack movement of Christians against blasphemy law in Pakistan.
It is on record that Bishops of Catholic Church and Church of Pakistan welcomed Sharia Law in Pakistan during International Jurist Conference in Lahore called by then premier Nawaz Sharif. The Bishops said on stages and in drawing room meetings with Pakistan Muslim League leaders that minorities are more protected in Islamic laws but Pakistan Christian Congress PCC opposed implementation of Islamic laws on Christians when military dictator late Zia-ul-Haq announced Prohibition Ordinance of Hudd . It is on record and no one can deny facts that Christian clergy in Pakistan dispatched delegations to Western countries to propagate that Christian are happy with Islamic laws or Sharia law in Pakistan.
I urge US Commission on Religious Freedom, US Home Department, EU Human Right Commission and United Nations Human Right Commission that presentations made by NCJP, Christian Study Center Pakistan and Pakistani clergy on issue of blasphemy law are not true voice of Pakistani Christian because Christians demand repeal of blasphemy law nor any amendment said Nazir Bhatti
Nazir Bhatti added I appeal to US Commission on Religious Freedom, UNHRC, EU Human Right Commission and other International Forums to invite leaders of masses who stage protests in Pakistan against blasphemy but can not afford funds to tour abroad for presentation because they are true voice of 20 million Pakistani Christians nor NCJP or Christian Study Center paid workers who speak on behalf of clergy and government of Pakistan
Nazir Bhatti clarified that NCJP signature campaign against Separate Electorate was successful because it was agenda of PPP and other Muslim political groups to bag Christian vote bank when Christians never demanded Joint Electorate but were casting hundreds of thousands of votes to elect their representatives by their votes. Such forums misled international forums on issue of election system for Christians in Pakistan and now again misleading on blasphemy law.
Dr. Nazir S Bhatti retreated that PCC along with other Christian groups which participated in All Christian Parties Conference to End Blasphemy Law in Rawalpindi on October 25, 2009, shall keep pressing government of Pakistan to repeal blasphemy law and shall file lawsuit in Supreme Court of Pakistan for remedy.
PCC will announce date of filing of lawsuit in SC to repeal blasphemy law after draft legislation of Shahbaz Bhatti, in parliament. |
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SLMP plays positive role in release of blasphemy accused in Pakistan |
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Lahore: January 22, 2009. Mr. Sohail Johnson, Chief of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan ALMP, shares good news of release of blasphemy accused by this letter |
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We are pleased to inform you that Rashid etc all blasphemy accused persons have been acquitted today on 19th January 2009. The session judge made an announcement that Rashid, Salamat, Tanveer and Bao are acquitted from the charge. They all would be released from district jail Toba Tak Singh this evening, by the grace of God
It is the greatest achievement of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan and other organization those who were struggling to set them free from the charge. It is an answer of earnest prayers of all prayer partners and friends.
It has become first case in history that blasphemy accused persons have been acquitted with the mutual understanding of complainant and witnesses. SLMP worked a lot to make reconciliation with Muslim clergymen. Although we have strong faith that our God can make possible the impossible things, but victory in this case has its own specialty for Gods miraculous work.
Background
There was a blasphemy trial pending in District courts Toba Tak Singh. The case was registered under blasphemy law on 1st April 2007 against Rashid son of Slamat, his father Slamat, Bao Masih and Tanveer Masih, vide FIR # 126 dated 1-04-07 offence under sections 149, 148, 295-A&C with police station City Toba Tak Singh
On 1st April 2007 at about 11:00am one of the accused person Rashids younger brother named Danyal was playing in the street. A Muslim guy named Sunny along with his friend came there asked Danyal to play with him. A quarrel arose between children on Danyals denial. The Muslim guy was having a striker on his shirt containing words Yah Rasool Allah (Mohammad the Prophet of God). During scuffle the sticker fell down in the street. That was Eid Millad al Nabi Mohammads birthday on the day of occurrence and many Muslims were gathered to celebrate the event. One Mohammad Faisal saw the sticker. He accused of Christian children for insulting name of Mohammad. Afterwards elders of Christian children step in and situation became worst. At the end Muslims attacked on Christians and to satisfy angry Muslims, police got case registered against Christians mentioned above.
Many Muslim groups attacked on Christian colony Toba Tak Singh and tortured Christians after the case. A local named Ratan Masih and some other Christians got severe injuries, many Christian families left their houses to save their lives.
Salamat Masih was arrested on the day of occurrence on 1st April 2007, while Tanveer and Bao were arrested after few months of the occurrence.
SLMPs Role
SLMP team managed to rescue an underage accused person of the case named Rashid Masih son of Slamat. He took refuge with SLMP for about 20 months at SLMP, but unfortunately in November 2008 he went to see his family at Toba Tak Singh and got arrested by local police and sent into the jail on
During Rashids stay with SLMP, we provide Rashid with a rickshaw to set his own business and to support his family. Our pastor has been visiting his family for prayer as well.
During detention of all the accused persons in this case, SLMP provided them with financial, moral and spiritual help.
SLMP team has been deeply concerned about the legal proceedings of the case. God sent His heavenly wisdom to SLMP team to meet with Muslim clergymen of the area for negotiation. Chief Coordinator has been meeting with Muslim religious and political leaders in this regard and with constant meeting with locals team succeeded to make them ready for reconciliation. No doubt this was greatest success in the name of Christ.
his case became more important because it was going to be first case in history of this blasphemy law in Pakistan that accused persons will get release on reconciliation basis.
Mr. Sohail Johnson made clergymen agree to issue a FATWA letter declaring the accused persons innocent. After struggles of days and nights, at last we succeeded to have FATWA letter from Muslim clergymen.
In the mean time SLMP team has been sending many prayer requests for release of Rashid and others. Team has been visiting Rashids and Tanveers families to encourage them in Christian faith.
Court Proceedings
The letter was produced in the court of Jalal-ud-Din additional session judge Toba Tak Singh, who also recorded the statements of prosecution witnesses in the month of December 2008. On January 3, 2009, the judge transferred to another district and new judge named as Slah_ud-Din took charge of the court. The new judge recalled all the witnesses and the complainant of the case and recorded their statements on 13th January 2009. It is also pertinent to mention here that all the witnesses and complainant of the case has given their statements on stamp papers in the court. In which they simply said they dont want to give their statement as prosecution witness and they have no objection if court will acquit the accused persons. On 18th January 2009 the Judge heard the final arguments of defense lawyer and finally he announced his judgment on 19th January 2009. He acquitted all the accused persons from the charge.
Tanveers father and Rashids mother suffered a lot in all these circumstances but we are thankful to God for their strong faith in Jesus Christ and God almighty.
SLMP has called Rashid and others to SLMP office on 24th January 2009. Hopefully they will come and we will send another report on their situation in the jail. |
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Five Pakistani Muslim Men Abduct A Christian Woman |
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Washington, D.C: January 20, 2010. International Christian Concern (ICC) learned that five Muslim men abducted a 21-year-old Christian girl in Sargodha, Pakistan. |
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It was reported to ICC that Muhammad Afzal, Maqsood Ahmed, Muhammad Ashraf and two other unidentified Muslim men abducted Asifa Bibi from her home at gunpoint. The Muslim men then dragged her into an unregistered black car and drove to an undisclosed location.
Asifas father, Nasir Masih, told ICC that Muhammad Ashraf, one of the suspects, had previously asked Asifa to convert to Islam and marry him. In Pakistan, it is common for Muslim men to approach Christian girls and ask them to convert to Islam and marry them. If the girls refuse such advances, the men abduct, rape and forcefully convert them to Islam.
Asifas family has reported the abduction to the police at Saddr police station. The police chief at the station told ICC that his office is investigating the case and hopes to arrest the suspects and secure the young womans release as soon as possible.
ICCs Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, We deplore the abduction of Asifa by the five Muslim men. We commend Pakistani police for promising to secure the release of Asifa and bring her abductors to justice |
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Pakistani Politician Trying to Steal Christian's House |
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Washington DC. January 22, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just learned that a high profile state politician is attempting to take advantage of his impoverished Christian |
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Knowing that the courts rarely protect the rights of Christians, the Deputy Speaker of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) is trying to illegally evict a Christian family from their house so that he can use it for his security guards.
A social worker from Peshawar told ICC that Slamat Masih has been living in this house in Officers Colony, Gunner line in the Cantonment area of Peshawar since 1969. The Cantonment Administration allotted the house to Masih's father, so when Khushdil Khan, the Deputy Speaker of NWFP, sent a group of men to ask Masih to vacate the house, Masih refused.
Masih told them that since he had been living in the house for so long and no officials had ever objected, he would not vacate the house.
The Deputy Speaker then started threatening Masih and his family, but the family refused to cave in to the threats by saying that they are poor people and do not have any other house to live in.
On January 14, Deputy Speaker Khan sent another group of men to put more pressure on Masih. These men entered the house without permission, threw the family's belongings into the street and physically harassed everyone present. They demolished the outer wall around the house and left, threatening the family if they did not vacate soon.
Masih went to the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Khan, but the police refused to register the FIR against a high profile politician because the complainant was a poor Christian. An FIR is a legal document in many countries of South Asia that police fill out when someone brings a criminal accusation against another person. It puts a legal obligation on police to follow up on the case and bring it to the court.
With the help of an NGO, Masih returned to the police and requested again that they receive his application against the Deputy Speaker just so that it could have a written record. This time the police accepted his application but have still taken no action against Khan.
Masih's family is still in the house but is afraid that they will be forcibly evicted because the police will not pursue the case.
Samuel Wallace, ICC's Regional Manager for South Asia, said, "Masih and his family have two strikes against them as they seek justice in Pakistan: they are Christians, and they are poor. Justice should be blind, but in Pakistan the police will only defend Muslims and those rich enough to pay their bribes."
Please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country and ask them to take action against Deputy Speaker Khushdil Khan and other corrupt politicians like him. |
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Thousands of Coptic Christians Rally Outside White House against killing of Christians in Egypt. |
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Washington DC: January 21, 2010. (REAL News) On January 21, 2010 on a winter afternoon, over 2000 Coptic Christians rallied, chanted, sang, prayed, and marched outside the White House |
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to get the attention of U.S. President Barack Obama and the American public on the continuing human rights violations of the Copts in Egypt. They came from Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and other parts of America to protest the recent terrorist attack on Copts in Egypt on January 6 (Coptic Christmas Eve), with terrorists killing Copts as they left their religious services in Nag Hammadi (near Luxor). The latest attacks were part of a continuing history of oppression, rape, murder, and forced conversion from Christianity to Islam of the Coptic people and women in Egypt.
Protesters Joining the Copts White House RallyThe crowd arrived in different locations from buses, some of which were organized at St. Mark Coptic Church (11911 Braddock RD Fairfax, VA 22030) and St. Mary Coptic Church (8340 Woodward St. Savage, MD 20763). Coptic organizers included Halim Meawad and Magdi Khalil. The rally was supported by the Coalition of American Coptic organizations and activists, the National American Coptic Assembly, Free Copts organization, and was promoted on the Free Copts organization website.
With the recent attacks on Copts in November 2009 (in Farshoot and Abou Shousha) and the January 2010 terrorist attack on Copts outside their Mar Yohana church in Nag Hammadi, the Coptic people continue to face deadly persecution in Egypt. Morris Sadek's group, the National American Coptic Assembly, passed out fliers at the White House rally defying President Mubarak's claims that "there is no persecution for Copts in Egypt;" the fliers addressed the oppression of Coptic Christians, attacks on churches, the forced "Islamization" and abduction of Coptic girls, and official restrictions on creation of new Christian churches. According to Morris Sadek, "enough is enough," calling for Mubarak and the American government to "do something now."
One attendee stated that the crowd of Copt supporters was estimated at 2500 people. It was a large enough crowd that it filled the Pennsylvania Avenue area in front of the White House. We attempted to estimate the moving crowd (which frequently was marching around the area) and concluded it was clearly over 2000 people. New members to protest continue to join the rally as it was in progress. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) was represented among the supporters at the Copts' White House rally. |
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Pope reprieves Holocaust-denying priest |
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Vatican City: January 24, 2009. (JP) In an attempt to heal a two-decade old schism, Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunications of four bishops, including one who is a Holocaust denier. |
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Williamson has said that only 200,000-300,000 Jews died during World War II and that gas chambers were a fiction.
He has also endorsed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious anti-Semitic forgery used since the late 19th century to fuel anti-Jewish violence, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Williamson is one of four bishops, all members of the Society of Saint Pius X, which rebelled against the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
Jewish leaders, including Rome Chief Rabbi Ricardo Di Segni, have urged Benedict not to lift the ban.
The American Jewish Committee's director of Interreligious Affairs, Rabbi David Rosen, said that "while the Vatican's reconciliation with the SSPX [Society of Saint Pius X] is an internal matter of the Catholic Church, the embrace of an open Holocaust denier is shameful, a serious blow for Jewish-Vatican relations, and a slap in the face for the historic efforts of Pope John Paul II, who following his predecessors, made such remarkable efforts to eradicate and combat anti-Semitism.
"I am sure that the lifting of the excommunication was not an affirmation by the Church of Holocaust denial. However, the failure to take into consideration his outrageous opinions is deplorable. Williamson should not have been included in this embrace," Rosen said.
ather David Neuhaus, professor of Bible at Bethlehem University, said on Saturday evening that the lifting of the excommunications had nothing to do with the "odious views" held by some of the bishops.
"Rather the pope has a burning desire to put an end to the schism in the Church. Discussion is going inside the Church regarding the pope's attempt to bring back into the fold ultra ultra conservatives who never accepted the reforms of Vatican II and were illicitly consecrated. There are those in the Church he feel that the pope is humiliating himself for men unrepentant of their views."
Neuhaus, who is also secretary-general of the Hebrew Speaking Catholic Vicariate in the Holy Land, said the Church's position on the Holocaust was a very sensitive issue for the local Catholic community.
"It touches on the very heart of who we are here in the Holy Land as promoters of historical reconciliation of Jewish and Catholic relations so that Jews and Catholics understand each other more," he said.
"I would like to be optimistic and say that the move to bring these ultra-conservatives under the influence of the pope will force them to tow the line with regard to the Church's contempt for Holocaust denial."
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Williamson's views had no impact on the decision to lift the excommunication decree.
The pope's decision by no means implies "sharing [Williamson's] ideas or his comments, which will be judged on their own," the ANSA news agency quoted Lombardi as saying.
Marcel Lefebvre founded the Society of Saint Pius X in 1969, a breakaway traditionalist Catholic priestly society that protests the liberalizing reforms of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, particularly its allowing of mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin.
The four bishops were excommunicated in 1988 after Lefebvre consecrated them without Rome's consent. Lefebvre was excommunicated as well.
In a statement on Saturday, the current head of the society and one of the rehabilitated bishops, Bernard Fellay, expressed his gratitude to Benedict and said the decree would help the entire Catholic Church.
The Society believes the Church is in crisis and blames in part the doctrinal reforms of Vatican II, including its ecumenical outreach, for causing it.
"Our Society wishes to be always more able to help the pope to remedy the unprecedented crisis which presently shakes the Catholic world," Fellay said.
Benedict made clear from the start of his pontificate that he wanted to normalize relations with the Society, meeting within months of his election with Fellay and convening cardinals to discuss bringing it back into the Vatican's fold.
Benedict has in the past praised the society for its stance against "moral permissiveness."
In 2007, Benedict answered one of Fellay's key demands by relaxing restrictions on celebrating the old Latin mass. In lifting the excommunication decree, he answered the society's second condition for beginning theological discussions about normalizing relations.
In lifting the decrees, Benedict risked a new clash with Jews, who had already been angered by the rehabilitation of the Latin mass because it contained a prayer calling for their conversion.
Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Paris said he understood the German-born pope's desire for Christian unity but said Benedict could have excluded Williamson, whose return to the church would have a "political cost" for the Vatican.
"I'm certain as a man who has known the Nazi regime in his own flesh, he understands you have to be very careful and very selective," Samuels said.
While Williamson's comments may be offensive and erroneous, they are not an excommunicable offense, said Monsignor Robert Wister, professor of church history at the Immaculate Conception School of Theology at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
"To deny the Holocaust is not a heresy even though it is a lie," he said. "The excommunication can be lifted because he is not a heretic, but he remains a liar."
Neuhaus said in response to Wister's comments that while he might be technically right, "William's views contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church. The pope has been very clear on this and continues John Paul II's tradition of inculcating total contempt for Holocaust denial and of asking whether Church clergy did enough during the Holocaust." |
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Pakistan Christians protest for arrest of Muslim attorney on rape and killing of teenage girl |
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Lahore: January 23, 2010. (Khalid Shahzad for PCP) The family members and Christian rights activists are protesting in front of Punjab Assembly building in Lahore demanding arrest of Mohammad Naeem, Advocate, who tortured, rape and killed Christian |
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teenage girl.
The Christian teenage Shazia daughter of Bashir Masih aged 12 years, resident of Islamia Park, Punch Road Aria Nagar, Samanabad, Lahore was found dead after rape by Muslim attorney Mohammad Naeem here today.
Shazia was working as a Domestic Worker in bungalow number AA 444 Defense Lahore with Muhammad Naeem Lawyer of Lahore High Court Lahore. He never paid a single penny to Shazia from last 8 months. On 21st of January 2010. Shazias Mother received a dead body of her younger girl 12 year and was shocked then she called some people from her neighbor and they contact Mr. Khalid Shahzad, General Secretary, Forum of Minorities.
According to our investigation, Shazia was rapped and torture by the Muhammad Naeem Lawyer Lahore High Court Lahore. He tried to hide this case and also pressurize to her father and media that I am a lawyer and will see who will highlight this issue because the court and the lawyer community is with me.
Last night he came with his relative in Pakistan Army to sort out deal with parents of deceased but when they come to know that the deal will be not successful then a Brigadier of the Pakistan Army who came to rescue Mohammad Naeem left away. The impression was given to poor parents of Shazia that elite class and the Muslim influencial people dont care about the law and order and they can use the law as they want.
Victim Shazia was only source of income of her family because while her two elder sisters has been married and she was only the hope of her young brother Sunny aged 8 years.
The mother of victim Shazia and father told Forum of Minorities leaders that Lawyer Mohammad Naeem offered them Rs. 20000 deal to keep this issue under ground
Culprit Mohammad Naeem also threatened to victims family that if they shout no body will listen and they will never get any thing
The defence Police were also not interested to registered FIR against Mohammad Naeem.
Till update on this news by PCP, the family members of deceased Shazia are protesting in front of Punjab Abbembly building and demanding arrest of Mohammad Naeem Advocate and other Muslim culprits who are not arrested by Punjab police. |
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Jewish anger as pope reinstates Holocaust-denier |
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JERUSALEM: January 26, 2009. (AFP) Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre on Sunday slammed a Holocaust-denying English bishop whose ex-communication has been cancelled by Pope Benedict XVI. |
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"It is scandalous that someone of this stature in the Church denies the Holocaust," the institution said in a statement, referring to Bishop Richard Williamson who has publicly denied the murder of six million Jews during World War II.
"Denial of the Holocaust not only insults the survivors, memory of the victims and the righteous among the nations who risked their lives to rescue the Jews, it is a brutal attack on truth," Yad Vashem said.
The Wiesenthal Centre, an international Jewish human rights body, said: "The Pope's decision to welcome back such a hater into the Church lends moral credence to deniers of history's worst crime.
"In addition to Bishop Williamson's Holocaust denial looms the unchanging virulent anti-Semitism of the Society of Saint Pius as a whole," it said.
The pope cancelled the ex-communication of Williamson and three other bishops in a bid to heal a 20-year schism with traditionalists led by rebel French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
The Roman Catholic Church published an edict lifting the 1998 sanction on Lefebvre's successor Bernard Fellay and three other bishops in his breakaway conservative movement, including Williamson.
He is on record as denying the existence of the gas chambers.
"I believe there were no gas chambers.... I think that 200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers," Williamson was quoted as saying in an interview with Swedish SVT television.
"There was not one Jew killed by the gas chambers. It was all lies, lies, lies!"
Italian Jewish groups criticised the decision as a "negative, worrying and incomprehensible signal" on Saturday.
Uneasy relations between the Vatican and Israel have been further strained by plans to declare Nazi-era Pope Pius XII a saint, despite widespread criticism of his inaction during the Holocaust. |
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Pakistani Christian distrust government claims to ensure justice in Shazia murder case |
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Karachi: January 24, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President, Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, expressed distrust on statements of President Asif Zardari, CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti |
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that culprits will be brought to justice in Shazia case.
Christian teenage girl Shazia Bashir Masih, working as housemaid was tortured, raped and murdered by Muslim lawyer Mohammad Naeem on January 21, 2010.
The culprit Mohammad Naeem who is member of Lahore High Court Bar Association and resident of posh Defense Housing Authority Lahore, molested, tortured and later killed Christian teenage Shazia Bashir in his home where she was working as maid since 2009.
The shameless episode of this inhuman drama happened when killer Mohammad Naeem Advocate accompanies with one Pakistan Army officer ranked as Brigadier and reached in hut of poor parents of Shazia Bashir and threatens not to raise voice and offers cash for rape and killing.
Nazir S Bhatti said that government of Pakistan and government of Punjab have been failed to secure life, respect and property of Christian.
The announcement of compensation to family of Shazia by President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif negates Christians demand Justice not Money raised after destruction of hundreds of homes in village BahmainWali, Korian and Gjra by attack of Muslim mob in July-August 2009, in Punjab. Apart from setting on fire Churches and desecration of Holy Bibles in said villages 7 Christian children, women and elders were burnt alive by Muslim extremists in Gojra Town. Like Shazia rape-murder case government of Pakistan and Punjab government assured Christians that justice shall be ensure.
The Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was dispatched to Gojra, Korian and village Bahminwala by President of Pakistan and Prime Minister of Pakistan with compensation checks and orders of registration of First Information Reports FIR against local administration.
The Punjab Minority Minister Michael Kamran was also ordered to rush to effected villages by Chief Minister of Punjab.
The 20 million Pakistani Christians watched on electronic media waiving FIR against Gojra DCO, DSP and other officials by Shahbaz Bhatti and Kamran Michael while standing beside seven dead bodies in presence of hundreds of mourners.
Where is justice? The DCO Gojra is promoted by Punjab government and enquiry committees of administration have given clean chit to involved officers who closed eyes and gave free hand to thousands of Muslims to destroy homes and burn Christian alive said Nazir Bhatti
There is no justice for Christians in Pakistan and we doubt that culprit Mohammad Naeem will be also saved like Gojra killers added Nazir Bhatti
Nazir Bhatti said Give us Justice not Money because justice can only end violence against Christians in Pakistan by establishment and fundamental Islamic elements
It is also reported in Pakistani Press that Special Team appointed by Chief Minister Punjab to conduct postmortem of victim Shazia Bashir have found no evidence of rape and Shahbaz Bhatti have pointed finger on one Christian Ammant Masih who recruited Shazia for maid worker in home of culprit Mohammad Naeem.
Nazir S Bhatti urged government of Pakistan and Punjab government to immediately arrest Mohammad Naeem advocate because PCC doubts that administration is providing time to culprits to seek bail before arrest from higher courts. |
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Hector Aleem arrested under blasphemy |
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Rawalpindi: January 27, 2009. (PCP) A Christian human rights activist named Hector Aleem resident of Islamabad, has been arrested suspiciously, in a Blasphemy case in Rawalpindi. |
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Hector is running an organization to promote peace in society named as Peace Worldwide. On 21st January 2009, about 50 policemen trespassed Hectors house at midnight. They tortured Hector, his wife and daughters and looted money, gold ornaments and mobile sets etc. Police arrested Aleem and took him to the police station. Later his family came to know he is implicated in a Blasphemy case.
Mr. Sohail Johnson Chief Coordinator Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan & CLAAS team members named Mr. Joseph Francis National Director, Ms. Katharine Kramat and Ms. Roma reached the place and met with Hectors family. They also met with investigation officer and some other authorities to support Hector in this tense situation.
According to the facts collected by Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan and CLAAS team members, a case has been registered vide First Information Report (FIR) No. 767, offence under section 295, 25-D Telegraph Act with police station R-A Bazar Rawalpindi. Case is registered on application submitted by member of Muslim organization Sunee-Tehreek.
According to the complainant, on November 28, 2008, he received a SMS (text message) with derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad on his mobile phone.
Translation of FIR
Police investigated the communication of mobile phone numbers it revealed it the sender of SMS phoned to Hector Aleem on the same day. The sender also made phone call to some other persons.
Polices high-handedness
On 21st January 2009, at 12:30am, about 50 policemen raided Hector Aleems house. They trespassed and tortured ruthlessly all the family members including wife and daughters of Aleem. They looted valuable households like gold ornaments, mobile phones and cash. Policemen also arrested Hector Aleem and took him to the police station. At that time family was totally unaware why police is doing so and what the reason of Aleems arrest is.
Next morning wife of Hector Aleem named Kauser submitted an application to Federal Minister for Human Rights against local police.
The investigation officer (I.O) named Zafar told that police has gotten Hectors physical remand from the court for five days. Team met with Hector in police custody.
Statement of Hector Aleem
My name is Hector Aleem son of Yaqoob Masih, I am 50 years old. I am running an organization named PEACE WORLDWIDE, to promote peace and social harmony in society. On 21st January 2009 at midnight, number of policemen entered my house breaking door and climbing boundary walls. They started beating and my family members. They abused me in very filthy words. They also tortured my wife and daughters. We were sleeping in our house when police came, we were unaware why police was doing so. There is a picture of Jesus Christ in my room, a policeman insulted the picture and said is this Hectors picture. They took our valuables and took me to the police station. I was only in trouser.
I could not wear my shoes when they took me to the police station. I remained hungry for 24 hours in police station and afterwards police offered me a piece of bread. Afterwards they produced me before Superintendent of police. In police station I came to know that I have been implicated in a Blasphemy case.
SLMP and CLAAS team also visited Hectors house. His family is much tense. They are worried about Hectors life. Team saw that doors of some rooms were broken. Hectors daughter told that police broke the door and entered the rooms.
Team met with some legal associates in Islamabad and conferred about the release of Hector Aleem. An associate advocate told that there is not provision in law that a local can be complainant of Blasphemy case. Law says that no Blasphemy case can be registered without permission of Magistrate and only higher police officer can be complainant of a blasphemy case. But unfortunately, in our country there is lawlessness. Police becomes under pressure of Muslim groups and registered the case unlawfully. He said that he is satisfied that case is very weak against Hector and he would be released very soon.
Mr. Joseph Francis approached Secretary Federal Minister named Khush Dil Khan in Islamabad to get some favor for Hector. It is expected that with the influence of Secretary of Minister Police will release Hector on conditions to produce him on the date of hearing.
We are trying to win the situation with negotiation as Hector is innocent in the case; he just received a call from un-identified number. He has no connection with any blasphemous act or with the caller
Translation of application submitted by Hectors wife
t is also another fact that Hector did nothing wrong which shows he has committed blasphemy. The Minister assured team for full-fledged cooperation if he finds Hector innocent, but he also said that he will take strict action if he finds him guilty. Federal Ministry for Human Rights has taken action
against responsible police officer. A letter has been issued from Ministry to higher police official to investigate the mater and take necessary action against the police. It is pertinent to mention here that police is intended to arrest a woman as well, in this case.
SLMP & CLAAS condemn intolerable act of Rawalpindi police. We condemn humiliation of Hector Aleem and urge international community to help Hector in this case as he is innocent. It is an alarming threat to other NGOs from Muslim fundamental groups as they have implicated a head of NGO who was working on Peace and Social Harmony. The way police tortured Hector and a member of Suni Tehreek implicated a NGOs head is not a trivial incident. It is an open threat, if it can be happened in Capital city of Pakistan; it can be happened easily in every area.
Newspapers have been reported the incident, some papers wrote against Hector Aleem whereas some wrote against Police |
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Shahbaz Bhatti kept silent on ruling of Deputy Speaker no Christian prayer for victim Shazia in National Assembly |
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Islamabad: January 26, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC said that National Assembly of Islamic Republic of Pakistan |
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do not represent 20 million Pakistani Christian when house can not offer Christian prayers to deceased Shazia Bashir Masih, a 12 year old girl raped and murdered by one Muslim lawyer.
There a hundreds of prayer proceeding for deceased Muslims on record of house who were not members of parliament but Islamic prayers (Dua) or Fateha was offered for them in National Assembly of Pakistan but in Shazia case, the ruling of Deputy Speaker have clarified that Christians not belong to this institution.
The ruling came when Awami National Party ANP leader Bushra Gohar MNA raised Shazia killing issue on point of order and suggested to offer prayers for victim.
Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities, who is selected by ruling Pakistan Peoples Party on reserved seats for Christian in National Assembly of Pakistan not insisted on Christian prayers for deceased Shazia but presented a resolution to regret on killing of teenage Christian housemaid and praised government for announcement of cash compensation.
Nazir Bhatti said it is same building of National Assembly where elected members of Christians were starting their speeches with name of Jesus and it is on record that one Christian leader used to recite Daily Prayers before his speech from 1985 to 1998, under Separate Electorate.
The ruling of deputy speaker not to offer Christian prayers have surprised millions of Pakistani Christians and silence of a Christian Member of National Assembly and Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti have spread anger among them said Nazir Bhatti
Nazir Bhatti added These selected Christians in National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies by Muslim political groups not represent Christians but represent Muslim parties and house have no Christian voice unless all Christians have staged walk out on ruling of deputy speaker
Nazir S Bhatti retreated that Christians not trust in government claims to ensure justice in killing of Shazia case.
Nazir Bhatti expressed concern of statement of PML(N) leader Begum Attia Inayatullaha when talking on point or order called Ammant Masih and his wife a gang .
Ammant Masih and his wife are also arrested by Defense Police Station in connection with Shazia rape and killing case because they provided maid job to Shazia in home of killer Mohammad Naeem advocate.
The Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Shrif leader of Pakistan Muslim League PML(N) who ordered Special Board for postmortem of Shazia Bashir and comments of Begum Attia Inayatullaha on floor of house A Gang for Ammant Masih indicate that rope shall be fixed in neck of one poor Christian and killer Mohammad Naeem will get clean chit as postmortem report says No Rape
Meanwhile, additional district and session judge Shafiqur Rehman has granted the interim bail to Chaudhry Naeems wife and sister-in-law till February 3 and directed the police authorities to submit record. the killer Naeems son had already got the interim bail. |
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Joseph Patres, member of Pakistani Canadian Christian Community writes an eye opening experience when along with Muslim counterparts visits members of Parliament: |
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Dear Sirs/Madams:
I had the opportunity to attend the above meeting organized by Pakistan Action Committee for Equality in Canada along with most of you, members of parliament on January 25, 2009. |
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I had the opportunity to attend the above meeting organized by Pakistan Action Committee for Equality in Canada along with most of you, members of parliament on January 25, 2009.
In that meeting the members of the Pakistani-Canadians community, mostly Muslims raised many issues involving situations of Khader, a Muslim currently detained by the by government of United States of America as prisoner of war in Guantanamo Bay . They displayed their unhappiness with the Liberal members of parliament particular and also the current government of Canada not doing enough to bring him home. They also showed their unhappiness over the leadership of Mr. Ignatieff, as they branded him pro-war, pro-Israel. They also criticized you, members of the Liberal Caucus, for not doing enough involving the situations in Gaza (Hamas), Israel , Lebanon , Iraq , Afghanistan & Kashmir and energy problems in Pakistan , rising of Islamophobia in Canada and distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters. The members of the Pakistani Muslim community also questioned the support Canada gave to India during the Mumbai bombing and lack of support for person arrested.
A member of the Pakistani Canadian community raised the issues regarding suffering of minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christians, the largest minority, around 15 to 20 million in numbers who are terrorized, harassed, tortured, humiliated, spited on, raped and persecuted for years by 150 million Muslims. He requested that the members of the Pakistani Muslim community should write to the Govt. of Pakistan to protect them from the extremists who are on a rampage lately to burn Christian Churches . Right at that moment, a member of the Muslim community started criticizing him. After the meeting was over they formed a circle around him and started intimidating him by twisting his genuine question he asked.
I as a member of the Pakistani Canadian, a Christian from Pakistan raised a question regarding problems experienced by the members of the Christian community when it come to issuing Canadian visas from the Canadian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan and in the Middle East.
You may have or may not have realized the members of the Pakistani Canadian Muslim community bombarded you with questions involving situations of the entire Muslim world. However, when a member of the Pakistan Canadian of the Christian community highlighted the suffering of minorities in Pakistan , many of the audience were uncomfortable but also criticized him for asking a genuine question which was based on the truth. It was difficult for most of the members to swallow the truth. Matter of fact, it is all on the record that the minorities are suffering in Pakistan by the discriminatory laws government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan introduced during the past two decades. For example, all the Christian Institutions, Schools, Colleges and Hospitals were nationalized by the government of Pakistan during the PPP rule of late Z. Bhutto. President Musharraf was decent enough to return large numbers of schools and Forman Christian College of Lahore . A large number of the Schools and top educational colleges equivalent to standards like Gordon College Rawalpindi and Murray College Sialkot are still in the possesion of the government.
For your kind information I hereby enclose a list, which includes detail of discriminatory laws exercised in Pakistan . Also enclosed is a recent report where Churches in the city of Karachi were burn down by elements of the group of extremists. I understand it is an issue, which must be dealt by the Human Rights component of the Canadian government and I ask that you question the government of Pakistan through that component.
I thank you in advance for taking the time to attend the forum and look forward to hearing more of your views on these issues.
Sincerely yours,
Joseph Patres
Member of the Pakistani Canadian Christian Community |
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Pakistani Christian Association in North America PCA condemn killing of teenage Christian girl Shazia in Pakistan |
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New York: January 28, 2009. (PCP) Mr. William Shahzad, Chairman PCA, Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President PCA, Babar Khokhar, General Secretary PCA |
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and members of PCA Board of Directors James Gill, Rev. Shad Gill, Arshad Bhatti, Zeba Gill, Saleem John and Edgar Wilson have strongly condemned killing of 12 years old Christian Shazia in Lahore.
Teenage Shazia was tortured and killed by former president of Lahore High Court Bar Association Mohammad Naeem Choudry. She was working as housemaid to earn for his family living since 2009, like bonded labor and restricted to meet her parents after some advance paid by Mohammad Naeem.
On January 21, 2010, Mohammad Naeem Advocate came to house of Shazia and told her father Bashir Masih that their daughter is sick and in hospital. Mohammad Naeem was accompanied with one Pakistan Army Brigadier and offered twenty thousand Rupees as deal to cover-up situation of Shazia sickness.
When father of Shazia reached Lahore hospital with other relatives on morning of January 22, 2010, Shazia was found dead. The doctors told cause of death as rape and murder after hitting with sharp blunt weapon.
Bashir Masih went to Defense Police Station for registration of case against Mohammad Naeem advocate with leaders of one Christian NGO.
The parents of Shazia are illiterate and not familiar with legal situation and depended on directions of Christian NGO leaders who also not bothered to get written medical report causing death of Shazia after receiving dead body. The incident was brought in notice of Pakistani electronic media which broadcasted news of rape and killing of Shazia by Muslim lawyer attracting attention of provincial and federal authorities.
As claimed by Mohammad Naeem advocate in presence of Pakistan Army Brigadier in home of Shazia to her parents that he have links with politicians and Pakistan Army and no one can touch him in Pakistan but on uproar of media and protest of some Christian NGO activists and family of victim in front of Punjab Assembly building in Lahore, police took over dead body and laid down in local hospital.
The leaders in Punjab government linked to Mohammad Naeem advocate visited family of Shazia and assured justice and registration of case.
The authorities announced special three member Medical Board to conduct postmortem for reasons of death of Shazia. The autopsy reports in such cases take three days to declare cause of death but Medical Board announced after hours that Zhazia was not raped.
The Christian NGO leaders not bothered to challenge formation of medical board and failed to include independent doctors in government formed doctors team.
The rape murder case of Shazia Bashir was registered as torture killing case with Defense Police Station Lahore and Mohammad Naeem advocate was arrested on January 25, 2010.
Killer lawyer was produced in Cantonment Courts Lahore on January 26, 2010 where Muslim lawyers harassed parents of Shazia and media teams blocking entrance to court area.
According to sources, after 3 days police remand by Additional Session Judge, Mohammad Naeem advocate has been treated as VIP in police station. He is visited by one Muslim political party leaders, provided hotel food, calling on his cell phone to friends in government and directing his lawyer community.
It is revealed that killer advocate says My friends are successful to change facts from rape to torture killing and now foolish Christian leaders can not harm me
To some extent, killer and molester lawyer is right because after dropping of rape charges it will be difficult to prove him killer by legal team of Christian NGO.
The son, wife and accused members of Mohammad Naeem were granted interim bails on January 26, 2010 till February 3, who are conducting press conferences and trying to prove that Shazia was mentally ill and fell down of stairs and injured.
Pakistani Christian Association in North America PCA leaders have urged government to ensure justice for teenage Christian girl Shazia Bashir and due punishment for accused Mohammad Naeem Choudry advocate.
PCA leaders appealed to Christians in Pakistan to offer prayers on January 29, 2010, when Mohammad Naeem will be produced in court that justice may prevail. |
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Johnson Joseph a leader of CLF terms Shahbaz Bhatti statement shameful. |
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Pakistan. January 30, 2009. (PCP) Former Executive Member of Christian Liberation Front CLF Mr. Johnson Joseph, which was led by present Chairman of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance APMA, |
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selected member of national assembly of Pakistan by PPP and presently Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti in an e-Mail to Pakistan Christian Post have termed Shahbaz Bhatti statement : Christians are enjoying equal rights in Pakistan shameful
Mr. Joseph writes To, The editor of Pakistan Christian Post. I would like to ask pardon as a former member of Christian Liberation Front on the statement of Federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti that he said on 3rd Jan 2009 that minorities are enjoying equal in Pakistan . I also ask pardon from the Lord bishop and Azad marshal , I also ask pardon from whose are struggling for the rights of minorities . I also ask pardon from my elders , brothers and sisters those had prayed for Christian liberation Front Pakistan. On the day when he become minister of minorities that statement was in my mind . I thought that one day he will say that minor ties are enjoying well in Pakistan . He gave the statement when two Christian met the president and the prime minister. The statement he has given is very shameful For those working for the rights of minor ties in the country. Once again , I ask sorry to my brothers and sisters. Thank you very much and looking far ward |
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Killer of Christian teenage Shazia remanded 6 more days in police custody |
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Lahore: January 29, 2010. (PCP) Mohammad Naeem Advocate who was in police remand on killing of 12 years old Christian girl was brought in Cantonment Court Lahore from back door of court compound in tight security. |
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Police contingents were heavily deployed in court area to avoid any protests by lawyers of Lahore High Court and City Courts who already boycotted courts proceeding in support of lawyer Mohammad Naeem on January 27, 2010, after decision made by Lahore High Court Bar Association.
Defense Police station produced accused Mohammad Naeem before Judicial Magistrate Saleem Sheikh and requested physical remand of 10 days.
The police pleaded that evidence in case and statements of family of Shazia shall be recorded and investigated in these days but magistrate extended remand for 6 days.
The police not allowed media to enter in court compound while Christians protested in front of court demanding punishment for killer of Shazia.
CLAAS and other Human Right organizations organized protest and play cards were hoisted demanding justice for innocent Shazia who was killed by her employer Mohammad Naeem Advocate on January 22, 2010. |
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Christian Framed for Bootlegging for Refusing to Become Muslim |
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Pakistan: January 30, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just learned that a radical Muslim police chief in Pakistan has falsely accused a Christian man of bootlegging to pr |
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Family members of the Christian man, Akmal Masih, also known as "Teddy," told ICC that on January 2 at 12:00pm, a close aide of the radical Muslim police chief Muhammad Afzal Lalli of Factory Area Police Station in Sargodha came to their house and demanded a bribe of 20,000 Pakistani Rupees ($250).
The aide, whose name is Muhammad Manshah, told Akmal that if he did not pay the bribe and convert to Islam, the police would prosecute him for selling alcohol illegally. Akmal refused to either give the bribe or convert to Islam. A family member said, "This act of Masih [Akmal] enraged Muhammad Manshah and he left in [a] flaming temper."
Almost seven hours later, police chief Lalli raided Akmal's house with a heavy police force and no warrant. The police rifled through the house with excessive force, breaking door locks and emptying suitcases, but could not find any sign of alcohol on the premises.
Frustrated in their search, a witness said, "Policemen kicked and slapped a frail elderly Christian woman Saidaan Bibi (71) and called her [names]," causing her to fall down.
Despite the lack of evidence, the police chief arrested Akmal and led him away in handcuffs. The police then lodged a court case against him and incarcerated him in the Sargodha District Jail. The police claim that they recovered 30 bottles of alcohol from Akmal's house.
Police chief Lalli told ICC that he raided Akmal Masih's house based on a tip from Muhammad Manshah.
n response to this attack, a crowd of Christians from Akmal's neighborhood, Noori Gate Christian Colony, gathered at the Regional Police Officer's office to protest. The officer promised to look into the matter in order to disperse the crowd. However, the police in Pakistan often make such promises but never follow up on them. |
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Shazia not tortured to death: Medical experts: (The Nation Report) |
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LAHORE: February 2, 2010. Medical experts and police investigators believe 13-year-old Shazia was not tortured to death, as she has been suffering from mysterious skin diseases and was also mentally ill to some extent, thanks to the media for making |
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Sources close to the investigators revealed the victim family is blackmailing the accused to mint money after her mysterious killing appeared as breaking news on local TV channels. Not enough, several NGOs and those working for minorities rights jumped into bandwagon for publicity, as they never miss any opportunity to get cheep popularity, no matter such attempts tarnish countrys image abroad.
Let me tell you frankly, the allegations of torture in Shazia case are totally baseless and concocted. The poor parents are playing into the hands of NGO mafia to seek financial help from the top government hierarchy. This is a planned game to mint money, a top police officer told this scribe seeking anonymity. However, he said, child labour is a menace and everybody should condemn it.
The sources said NGO workers and the victim family are forcing the investigation police to get undue favour in Shahzias death case.
The victim family has managed to collect more than Rs 1 million from the governments after the local media overplayed the death case, terming the mysterious killing as a murder even before the autopsy report, the sources further said.
Insiders revealed Shahzias parents, who had left their daughter at the residence of Chaudhry Naeem Advocate for few hundred rupees, staged protest drama after the NGO mafia convinced them they could get millions of rupees by exploiting her death.
Defense Police Station Incharge Investigation Asghar disclosed, apparently it seemed some vested interests are exploiting the case to defame the country and to prove as minorities are not safe in Pakistan. He disclosed three SPs, one ASP, one DSP and one an Inspector were handling this case. The family is demanding the police to act according to their will but we cannot act beyond the rules and regulation, he added.
Asghar said half of the case had been solved and further investigations were underway. |
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Anti-Gay Pastor picked up by Pope to be Bishop in Austria |
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Linz: February 01, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI has promoted an anti-gay pastor in Austria to bishop, the second controversial appointment this week, the BBC reports. |
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Yesterday, the Vatican announced the appointment of Rev. Gerhard Maria Wagner to auxiliary bishop in Linz, Austria, according to Top Magazine
Wagner, 54, said in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for the sins of New Orleans. He specifically called attention to the city's annual gay pride parade, Southern Decadence, scheduled to take place several days after the storm.
Kath.net, the Austrian Catholic news agency, released passages it says are comments Wagner made in a parish newsletter.
Wagner said the gate's of the city were wide open to celebrate sin in reference to the annual gay event. He said he was glad that the hurricane destroyed not only the nightclubs and brothels in the city, but also five abortion clinics.
Ironically, the French Quarter, where the gay parade was scheduled to take place, was spared major damage.
He called Katrina divine retribution for New Orleans' tolerance of gays and lesbians.
The conditions of immorality in this city are indescribable, the news agency quoted him saying.
Last week, the Pope rehabilitated Richard Williamson, who has said he does not believe there had been Nazi gas chambers in Germany. Williamson, along with three other members of the Society of Pius X, a group of ultra-conservative Catholics, had his 20-year excommunication lifted.
Wagner, who received a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome, has tended to the spiritual needs of parishioners in the Austrian town of Windischgarsten since 1988.
The Pope's campaign against the acceptance of gays and lesbians has steadily grown louder. Recently, he spoke via broadcast at an anti-gay marriage rally in Spain. Spain granted gays and lesbians the right to |
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Extension in Police remand of Teenage Christian girl Shazia killer. |
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Lahore; February 4, 2010. (PCP) Killer Mohammad Naeem Advocate was produced in Cantonment Court Lahore under tight security |
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where Muslim lawyers were gathered in large number to support their former president of Lahore High Court Bar Association. The investigation officer Mohammad Asghar pleaded that police want extension in remand of accused which was not objected by district public prosecutor nor any objection was raised by attorney of Shazia,
The interim bails of three co-accused in Shazia killing case were also extended on filing not any objection by advocate of poor victim Shazia.
Todays episode to twist justice to safe influential Muslim killer of poor teenage Christian housemaid spread wave of anger among Christian in Pakistan on an easy police remand and extension in interim bails of son, wife and sister of Mohammad Naeem.
The sources close to Defense Police Station Lahore informed PCP that killer Mohammad Naeem is enjoying VIP treatment in police station where he is giving instructions to lawyers, medical teams and his friends in government on his cell phone.
Shazia, a 12 years old Christian girl was killed on January 22, 2010, in home of Mohammad Naeem Advocate who employed her as housemaid in 2009.
Mohammad Naeem Advocate led processions to reinstate Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan when he was President of Lahore High Court Bar Association during Pervaiz Musharraf regime when he sacked CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Choudry.
Killer Mohammad Naeem Advocate have links with Pakistan Army and ruling Party of Punjab which were instrumental to reinstate Chief Justice and outset Musharraf government.
Life for All a Lahore based civil society organization was outraged when attorney of Shazia not raised any objection on extension of interim bails on nominated co-accused in FIR and rumors spread that there was not any advocate present in court from victim side.
The Chief of CLAAS, another civil society organization claiming to providing legal aid assistance to victim Shazia was not in Pakistan but touring West where he told media that non of Muslim advocate is ready to appear in favor of Shazia in any court.
According to report published in Daily Nation it is revealed that medical experts and police investigators believe 13-year-old Shazia was not tortured to death, as she has been suffering from mysterious skin diseases and was also mentally ill to some extent.
Let me tell you frankly, the allegations of torture in Shazia case are totally baseless and concocted. The poor parents are playing into the hands of NGO mafia to seek financial help from the top government hierarchy. This is a planned game to mint money, a top police officer told The Nation |
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UN refugee agency chief of Quetta kidnapped |
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QUETTA: February 2, 2009. (PCP) Chief of UNHCR Quetta, an American citizen named John Solecki came under attack of gunmen in Quetta, capital of Balochistan, a border city of Afghanistan. The driver was injured but militants kidnapped Mr. Solecki and |
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According to AFP, gunmen ambushed Solecki's vehicle, which was marked with United Nations insignia, and opened fire, wounding the driver who later died of his injuries, UN officials and police said.
Local police official Khalid Masood told AFP that Solecki was an American national and "head of the sub-office of UNHCR-Quetta."
"They opened fire. His driver was wounded and died on the way to hospital. The gunmen took him (Solecki) away," Masood said.
Quetta is supposed to be base of Taliban from where attacks are launched in Afghanistan against NATO forces. This city have large population of Pushtun and many wanted Taliban have been arrested from this city in past. |
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Nine Christians killed among 27 dead in Karachi Blast. Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have Condemn blasts in city. |
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Karachi; February 5, 2010. (Sunny Gill reports for PCP) Karachi was rocked by two bomb explosions killing 27 and injuring more than hundred |
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when Shia Muslims were observing religious procession in city. The bombs exploded on Shahra-e-Faisal and in front Jinnah Hospital within two hours.
The bomb blast in Jinnah Hospital killed Manzoor Masih, Akram Masih, Khurram Masih, Nadeem Masih, Kirn Masih and Rosy Masih who were on their way home when bomb in a motor cycle exploded.
Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have strongly condemned bomb blast in Karachi and expressed grief on deaths of innocent Muslims and Christians.
Meanwhile AFP reports that suicide bombers rammed into a bus in Karachi on Friday then hit a hospital where casualties were rushed for treatment, killing 25 people in the second assault on Shiites in the Pakistani city in weeks.
The attacks in a city largely isolated from Islamist violence highlighted the instability in Pakistan, which is on the frontline of the US war on Al-Qaeda and where militants have killed more than 3,000 people since 2007.
Women and children were among the 12 people killed when a suicide attacker rammed a motorbike bomb into a bus carrying Shiites on one of Karachi's busiest roads, gutting the bus and sending glass flying, officials and witnesses said.
A second bomber killed 13 people, damaging ambulances and the entrance to the casualty department at Jinnah Hospital, where the victims of the first attack were being treated and anxious relatives were gathering.
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have announced 3 days mourning in Karachi for bomb blast victims. |
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Punjabi Christian reject Goaen Bishops in Pakistan. Nazir Bhatti |
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Philadelphia: February 3, 2009. Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, appealed to pope Benedict to take notice of Catholic Church in Pakistan where theres no Punjabi bishop while 99.9% catholics are Punjabi speaking congre |
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There are Punjabi reverend fathers in majority but still Goen are ruling Catholic Christians which is unjust and unfair. The Bishops Conference of Pakistan, comprising of these Goaen tiny community declared killing of Bishop John Joseph, a Punjabi bishop to be suicide on intimation of establishment of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Bishop John Joseph was great human right activist and Punjabi bishop not liked by these Goaen bishops who termed his martyrdom as suicide.
Nazir Bhatti said these Goen bishops availed an opportunity of immigration of Christians to Canada and Australia in 1965,s but they filled applications of their Goaen brothers and sisters who are enjoying life there but not recommended any Punjabi Christians
All Goen Catholic community moved to Canada and Australia and Karachi city which was total base of Goaen became vacant in 1970 but still Goen are our bishops which cause concerns added Nazir Bhatti
PCC salutes Khadim Wilson Khadim who lunched movement against Goaen bishops and forced Vatican to appoint first Punjabi Bishop John Joseph.
Nazir S Bhatti said that PCC will file memorandum with Holy Pope to appoint Punjabi bishops in Pakistan instead of Goaen bishops who are tools of ISI in Pakistan and working against will of Catholic Christians,
The Goaen Bishop Conference of Pakistan favored Joint election system instead of separate election and funded millions to be VVIP to support their tools like Shahbaz Bhatti, Cecil Choudry and Mehboob Sada to propagate against separate electorate.
Nazir Bhatti said, we Punjabi Christian want Punjabi bishops in Pakistan not Goen bishops who are damaging Punjabi Christians cause
Nazir S Bhatti said that I have appealed for an appointment with Holy Pope and I will surface situation of Catholic Church with his holiness
PCC is also looking for an early appointment with UNO Secretary General to submit petition for refugee status to Pakistani Christians. |
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14th anniversary of attack on Christian village Shanti Nagar by Muslim mob observed |
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Shanti Nagar, Punjab: February 6, 2010. (Naseer John reports for PCP) Hundreds of Christians gathered in Salvation Army Church in Shanti Nagar to mark 14th anniversary of attack on this village. |
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The prayers were offered that Lord saved their lives in violence against innocent Christians. Pastor Hisqeel Sarosh led prayers.
njsarosh
Pastor Arshad Nazami of Salvation Army, Pastor Abdal Masih of UGA Church, Saimon Sahahbaz of Assembliez of God, Pastor Peter Joh of Yahawa Nasi Church and Pastor Peter were present with their congregations in joint meeting.
On February 6, 1997, thousands of Islamic protesters descended on the village with placards stating: "Kill the Christians because they are Blasphemers towards the Holy Quran and Holy Prophet." In the village of Shanti Nagar, 785 houses were destroyed, four churches were burned, and 2,500 Christian forced to flee. The mob violence, in which incendiary devices were used like village Bahinwala, Korian and Gojra.
Through this meeting message was delivered to children that they shall not forget their past that what was happened in this village.
The Shanti Nagar victims organized hunger strike in front of Punjab Assembly building Lahore for compensation of lost of property and demand of repeal of blasphemy law in 1997.
It was remembered in todays meeting they were not awarded any compensation nor blasphemy law is repealed after 14 years.
In this meeting, participants praised God that he saved them in that burning fire and thanked to all Christian brothers and sisters who helped them in that tough time by providing food and shelter.
The gathering also condemned killing of Shazia Bashir and demanded justice for teenage Christian girl. |
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Christian Leader Trapped Inside Saudi Arabia: Expatriate Christian, Threatened by Islamists, Would Face Persecution at Home Also |
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Saudi Arabia: February 5, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Hagos Woldu [name changed for security reasons], |
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an expatriate Christian leader in Saudi Arabia, fled from the city of Riyadh on January 28 following threats he received from radical Muslims.
On January 10, Woldu found a note on his van warning him to leave Saudi Arabia or face the consequences. "They [the Islamic extremists] were not happy when I told them that Mohammed is not a prophet," said Woldu in an interview he gave to ICC.
"People who covered their faces started to follow me. They blocked my van on three different occasions," said Woldu. The pressures forced him to quit his job on January 15.
Woldu has been living in Saudi Arabia for the past 24 years and this is not the first time that he has been persecuted for his faith in Jesus Christ. In 2005, he and four other expatriates were detained by the Mutaween (Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), an arm of the government that enforces religious purity. At the time, Woldu and the other four Christians were imprisoned due to their activities in an underground church group in the country. They were released one month later following pressure by Western diplomats.
"I have not stopped telling the truth by preaching the gospel. I preach the gospel to Muslims," said Woldu in explaining why the extremists still want to force him to leave Saudi Arabia.
Woldu is not currently working, and he is unable to leave Saudi Arabia because he has not yet been able to secure a visa to a third country. It is also unsafe for Woldu to return to his own country due to the severe persecution Christians are facing there.
He told ICC that his biggest worry at this time is the safety of his wife and eight children, who are currently living in Cairo, Egypt. His family moved from Saudi Arabia to Egypt in 2007, but the UNHCR failed to give them refugee status. As the bread winner for the family, he is concerned about their current well-being.
"I don't care if I am slaughtered for the sake of the Gospel, but what I am concerned about is my wife and eight children. Please contact UNHCR and ask them to give my family refugee status," said Woldu in expressing his worries about family.
In a message to Christians, Woldu said, "Please contact embassies in Saudi Arabia and ask them to help me get out of the country, and, as a first priority, please help my family."
ICC's Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, said, "We ask the officials of Saudi Arabia to protect the rights of Christians in the country to worship freely. It is hypocritical that Saudi Arabia promotes interfaith dialogue while failing to guarantee freedom of religion at home." |
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Pakistani Christian reject Shahbaz Bhatti,s revision proposal in blasphemy law |
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New York: February 7, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC clarified that Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities is not elected by voters |
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as member of National Assembly of Pakistan but selected by Pakistan Peoples Party PPP and speaks voice of his Muslim masters.
20 million Pakistani Christians have always demanded repeal of blasphemy law which have been misused by Muslim groups in Pakistan against Christians nor any revision or amendment in controversial law.
PCC condemns announcement made by Shahbaz Bhatti in Washington DC on his plans of revision in blasphemy law in year 2010, said Nazir Bhatti
It is surprising to note that Shahbaz Bhatti, as Chief of Christian Liberation Front made presentations urging repeal of blasphemy law before US Commission on International Religious Freedom and other International Forums but after selection by Muslims in parliament his priorities have been changed.
It is on record that Shahbaz Bhatti in his meetings with Voice of Martyrs, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and other religious organizations in EU and USA sought support to repeal blasphemy law.
In Seminars and Press Conferences of Christian Liberation Front. Shahbaz Bhatti claimed to repeal blasphemy law in Pakistan but as Federal Minister he talks to revise not repeal.
Nazir Bhatti said Shahbaz Bhatti announced in 2009, to revise blasphemy law via parliament in January 2010, but now he extend it to end of this year which creates doubts that he will never present revision legislation ever
A Catholic Federal Minister who can not ensure justice for housemaid 12 years Christian girl Shazia killed by his Muslim employer how he can be sincere to millions of Pakistani Catholics who have been victims of violence on pretext to blasphemy law added Nazir S Bhatt
Nazir Bhatti said that Pakistan Christian Congress PCC shall file lawsuit in Supreme Court of Pakistan to repeal blasphemy law after fate of proposed revision claims of Shahbaz Bhatti inNational Assembly of Pakistan.
I urge International Media and Websites of Churches not to title Shahbaz Bhatti A Catholic Christian or Representative of Pakistani Christians because Christians have not elected Shahbaz Bhatti by their votes but he is selected by Muslim political party named Pakistan Peoples Party PPP and imposed on Christians for vested interests said Nazir Bhatti |
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Pope to address Jews after bishop denies Holocaust |
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VATICAN CITY : February 7, 2009. (Reuters) Israel's chief Rabbinate is resuming dialogue with the Vatican after freezing ties over a Holocaust-denying bishop and the pope will meet major Jewish groups to try to make amends, a Church source said on Sa |
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The Rabbinate pulled out of a meeting with Vatican officials scheduled for March 1-4 in the midst of an international outcry over Pope Benedict's lifting of the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including Richard Williamson, who denies the full extent of the Holocaust.
The meeting will now take place in late February or mid-March and will most likely include a papal audience.
Next Thursday, the pope will hold a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CPMAJO) and make an address about the Holocaust and the dangers of Holocaust denial, the source said.
It will be the first between the pope and Jewish leaders since the start of the controversy, which many have said has undermined nearly half a century of Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
The Thursday meeting is particularly significant because of the influence and scope of the CPMAJO, an umbrella group that includes 51 organisations, including the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.
Williamson told Swedish television in an interview broadcast on January 21: "I believe there were no gas chambers." He said no more than 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, rather than the 6 million accepted by most historians.
Among those who condemned Williamson and the pope's decision were Holocaust survivors, progressive Catholics, members of the U.S. Congress, German Jewish leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Jewish writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. Continued... |
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Bishop Timotheus Nasir will lead legal team of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC in Shazia case |
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Karachi; February 9, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Christian Congress PCC Central Council have decided to request Bishop T. Nasir to lead in Shazia killing case in Lahore to appear in court in future proceedings of case while CLAAS and NCJP failed to provide |
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Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, called Bishop T Nasir who is also Principal of Faith Theological Seminary Gujranwala, Punjab, and discussed situation of Shazia murder case in which no advocate is appearing in court proceedings.
Bishop T Nasir assured that he have studied law and will appear in court in Shazia case on belaf of PCC in next hearings.
Advocate Naeem, an influential Muslim with contacts in Pakistan Army and Punjab government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Group was nominated as main accused by family of Shazia Bashir, a 12 year Christian girl, who was found dead in hospital on January 22, 2010, in Lahore, who was working as housemaid in accused home.
Killer Naeem Choudry Advocate is former President of Lahore High Court Bar Association and Muslim lawyers threatened any lawyer to appear on Shazia Bashir case according to CLAAS.
CLAAS is a foreign funded organization working with Catholic Church of Pakistan, Church of Pakistan and Human Right Commission of Pakistan HRCP, and announced to provide legal aid to Shazia Bashir who was murdered by her Muslim employer.
Killer Naeem was produced here today in Session Court of Lahore and his police remand was extended for one day when no advocate was present to plead victim.
The Defense Police investigating officer told court that according to medical reports no rape and torture was found in Shazia killing case.
PCC have already feared that Chief Minister of Punjab have tented facts by his medical board to safe killer Naeem who is member of his Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group.
Dr. Nazir Bhatti said PCC will ensure justice in Shazia killing and will not allow culprits to go unpunished on their infulence in government
I urge every Christian in Pakistan to support Bishop T. Nasir to lead in Shazia case said Bhatti
Nazir S Bhatti, appreciated role of Mr. Sohtra in Shazia case. |
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Taliban release video of Polish hostage's beheading |
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PESHAWAR: February 8, 2009. (AFP) Pakistani Taliban militants released a graphic video Sunday showing the beheading of a Polish engineer whom they said was killed because Islamabad refused to free detained insurgents. |
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The tape, seen by an AFP correspondent here, was released one day after a spokesman for Pakistan's umbrella Taliban group said its men had decapitated Piotr Stanczak, who was seized in the volatile northwest on September 28.
Pakistan has seen a number of kidnappings of foreign nationals in recent months, many of them in the northwest, where Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants have been holed up since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.
Authorities in Islamabad are also hunting for an American UN worker abducted a week ago in the southwestern city of Quetta. A shadowy ethnic Baluch rebel group has claimed responsibility for that kidnapping.
Stanczak, who was working in Pakistan for a Polish energy company, was seized by armed men in the town of Attock, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad. His two drivers and bodyguard were killed.
The video released by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shows Stanczak sitting cross-legged on a carpet, wearing a khaki shalwar kameez.
he Polish man made a brief statement in English in response to questions posed by his captors, urging his government to withdraw its contingent of about 1,100 troops from Afghanistan, where they are helping fight Taliban insurgents.
In the next scene, Stanczak is sitting in the same position, but blindfolded. A masked man is shown beheading him with a knife, while two men stand guard behind him, holding AK-47s at the hostage's head. |
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Panel of 9 Muslim doctors declare cause of death of Shazia |
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Lahore: February 10, 2010. (PCP) A medical board comprising of 9 Muslim doctors constituted by medical superintendent of Jinnah Hospital Lahore to investigate cause of death of 12 years old Christian housemaid Shazia Bashir issued here final report. |
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The infection in wounds and lack of nutrition were declared cause of death by this ever big medical board constituted to make public cause of death in any case in Pakistan.
This medical board also confirmed that there was no evidence of negligence by Jinnah Hospital doctors or staff in death of Shazia.
The doctors who are famous for service to humanity and truth nailed down justice by this report as lawyers known as custodian of law blocked justice to safe one influential Muslim accused in rape-murder of poor 12 years girl who was his housemaid.
Shazia Bashir was employed by Mohammad Naeem Advocate in 2009, as housemaid, who brought her in critical condition to Jinnah Hospital Lahore where she died on January 22, 2010.
Mohammad Naeem, former president of Lahore High Court Bar Association approached family of Shazia and pressured them to accept cash and remain silent in presence of one general ranked Muslim officer of Pakistan Army.
The poor parents of Shazia Bashir turned down any deal and rushed to Jinnah Hospital where they found their daughter dead.
The doctors on duty told Bashir Masih, father of Shazia that she was raped and murdered. The 36 wounds were visible on her dead body with broken arm.
The electronic media of Pakistan broadcasted death of Shazia as breaking news referring her as victim of rape and killing according to statement of duty doctors of Jinnah Hospital Lahore and family of deceased.
The family members of Shazia requested to lodge First Information Report FIR with Defense Police Station but same was denied.
A civil society organization named CLAAS, which claims to provide legal assistance to persecuted Christians in Pakistan contacted father of Shazia and offered their support which illiterate and poor Bashir Masih accepted and signed blank papers rendering his power of attorney.
The Christian Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti on directives of President of Pakistan rushed to Lahore from Islamabad and announced 5 hundred thousand rupees compensation from Pakistan Peoples Party PPP government to family of Shazia vowing justice for 12 year Christian victim of rape-murder by influential culprits.
Mohammad Naeem, as President of Lahore High Court Bar Association played active role in rallies and Long March to reinstate deposed Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan by President Parvez Mushraaf.
Accused had also close relations with Sharif brothers who owned Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Group (PML-N)
The Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif also rushed to home of Shazia Bashir and promised to ensure justice and monitory compensation of 5 hundred thousand rupees. In Punjab is government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PML(N) and Christian member of PML(N) Kamran Michael was being used to assure Christians that PML(N) is more supportive than PPP.
Chief Minister issued directives and FIR of rape and murder was registered against Naeem Advocate in Defense Police Station on January 25, 2010.
The Chief Minister of Punjab constituted Medical Board of three doctors which made first statement after postmortem that Shazia was not raped
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC raised objections on Medical Board of chief minister but CLAAS which was leading in case not bothered to challenge findings on rape of 12 year old girl instead kept them busy in sending reports abroad to their funding agencies.
Accused Naeem was arrested and produced in court where he was sent in police remand for investigation. Accused enjoyed VIP facilities in police station but CLAAS not bothered to raise this issue in higher courts that Accused is not being investigated by police but having political meetings in police station
The interim bails were granted to wife and son of accused which were extended by additional session judge cantonment frequently without any objection raised by advocates of Shazia.
The Muslim lawyers of Lahore Bar Association, Lahore High Court Bar Association launched protest in favor of accused advocate and stopped entering media and family members of victim whenever Mohammad Naeem was produced for remand in court.
Naeem advocate filed his bail application which was heard today by additional session judge and postponed till January 13, 2010.
Where is justice in Pakistan for poor Christians? question will remain unanswered when Punjab Government have paved way for freedom of accused Muslim!!!! |
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EC refuses to issue nomination papers to Christians for Senate elections. |
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Islamabad: February 9, 2009. (PCP) Non of Muslim political parties after hijacking more than 1.7 million Christian votes, including ruling PPP in elections of 2008, under joint election system have any Christian on their Senate candidate list for Sen |
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Under Joint Election system, Muslim political parties get votes of Christian for their party candidates of National assembly and four Provincial assemblies and select Christian tools on reserved seats in parliament. There are no reserved seats for Christians in Senate of Pakistan while reserved seats of Muslim women, Muslim technocrats and Muslims religious leaders were legislated.
Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities and selected member of national assembly by ruling Pakistan Peoples Party PPP, claimed on many occasions that Christians shall get reserved Senate seats in forthcoming March 2009, election.
Prime Minister Yousaf Gillani also announced seats for Christians and other religious minorities in Senate of Pakistan.
Pakistani Christians never trusted PPP but Martyr Benazir Bhutto, chairperson of PPP restored confidence among Christians by promising Dual Voting right and Senate representation.
Pakistan Muslim League factions had Separate Electorates in their manifestos but non of League group raised voice against Joint Electorate but enjoyed Christian vote bank.
Christians are more than 15 million and second biggest population of Pakistan but denied their equal rights and social justice in Muslim dominated Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Christians are treated as untouchables by Muslims and turned to be second class citizens under constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
When few Christians contacted returning officer appointed by Election Commission for Senate elections seeking nomination paper for Christian seats announced by Prime Minister and Minority Minister, they were told that there are no such reserved seats nor EC have any notification or Executive Order in this regard by the government.
Few Christians were issued nomination papers in Lahore and Karachi but Christians selected in provincial assembly refused to fill in as proposal and second without directions of their Muslim masters.
Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC expressed concerns on failure of ruling PPP to legislate reserved seats for minorities before Senate elections.
Nazir Bhatti have urged Christians to unite on one platform instead of following PPP, PML(N), PML(Q), ANP, MQM and other Muslim feudal lords and business tycoons because they are not sincere to ensure justice and equal rights for Christians.
We must step up and form platform like MQM and to safeguard our rights because non of Muslim political party is ready to struggle for Christian rights in Pakistan. We are listening claims and promises of Muslim political groups since 1947, but non have been fulfilled added Nazir Bhatti |
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Shazia case: accused Naeem gets bail: Poverty loose influence, power and Islam wins justice |
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Lahore: February 13, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group PML(N) and bureaucracy of Punjab government with support |
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of Pakistan Peoples Party PPP in federal government of Pakistan bulldozed justice in Pakistan with fabricated medical reports in Shazia killing case.
Accused Mohammad Naeem was granted bail by additional session judge Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Lahore Cantonment Courts Lahore in murder case of 12 years old Christian housemaid Shazia Bashir.
According to electronic media of Pakistan, the lawyer of accused argued Postmortem report of Shazia did not indicate that Shazia had been murdered. However, the report states that Shazias death was due to the infection caused by old injuries nor the police have also found any evidence in 14 days remand that advocate Naeem and his family were being involved in Shazias murder
The court granted bail of one lacks and confirmed interim bails of son and wife of accused Mohammad Naeem.
Commenting on bail of Mohammad Naeem, PCC Chief Nazir S Bhatti said Poor parents of Shazia have lost the case while influential and rich Mohammad Naeem have won' |
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Jewish leaders set to meet with pope |
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ROME: February 11, 2009. (AP) American Jewish leaders are scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday for their first face-to-face talks since a furor erupted over a bishop who denies the Holocaust. |
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Wednesday that he plans to thank the pope for a commitment to strong Catholic-Jewish ties that Benedict expressed to dampen the controversy over he bishop.
The Vienna-born rabbi is a Holocaust survivor and he said the position of Bishop Richard Williamson was "very painful" to him. "I'm an eyewitness," he said by telephone from his Rome hotel.
Schneier fled Nazi forces in Austria for Budapest in 1939 and was confined to a labor camp before Hungary was liberated by the Red Army. He has said most of his family was deported to Auschwitz and died there.
Schneier said the controversy was a "temporary setback" to relations between the two religions and he was now hopeful that ties can be further strengthened, especially after the pope's affirmation of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which led the Church to reach out to other religions. |
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Shazia case: Where is CLAAS and Shahbaz Bhatti? Agnes Massey |
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Canada: February 16, 2010. (PCP) Agnes Massey, President, Pakistan Christian Congress Canadian Chapter have expressed anger and grave concern on situation of Shazia case. |
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12 years old Christian girl Shazia Bashir was murdered on January 22, 2010, in Lahore, by his Muslim employer, Mohammad Naeem Advocate.
Accused Mohammad Naeem was arrested in torture and killing of Shazia Bashir but on February 13, 2010, Additional Session Judge granted his bail and confirmed bails of his wife, son and other relative.
Shazia Bashir was working as housemaid in home of accused Mohammad Naeem since 2009, and brought to Jinnah Hospital on January 21, 2010 in critical conditions by accused.
CLAAS was leading Shazia case which claims to provide legal aid assistance to Christian in Pakistan and is sitting in action committee formed by Asma Jahangir, Chairperson of Human Rights of Commission of Pakistan.
Agnes Massey questions, Where is Asma Jahangir, Lawyer with her claims to be the top custodian of Human Rights? Where is CLAAS office ,claiming to be the custodians of Christians' rights in Pakistan? Where is Mr.Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities' affairs? Why he is silent or don't know how to use the power of his office?
She said These are the questions from 20 million Christians of Pakistan those caste their vote for the formation of Pakistan
President PCC Canadian Chapter urged that President and Prime Minister should look into the matter and grant justice to poor parents |
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Pope says Holocaust denial 'intolerable' |
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VATICAN CITY: February 12, 2009. (AFP) Pope Benedict XVI said on Thursday that it was "intolerable" to deny the Holocaust as he confronts controversy over a bishop who claimed Jews were not killed in the Nazi gas chambers. |
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"Any denial or minimisation of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable," the pope told leaders of the Conference of American Jewish Organisations when he also confirmed plans to visit Israel.
"This should be clear to everyone, especially to those standing in the tradition of the Holy Scriptures," he said in a veiled reference to Richard Williamson, the ultra-conservative bishop has denied that Jews died in Nazi gas chambers.
"The (Roman Catholic) Church is profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism and to continue to build good and lasting relations between our two communities," the German pontiff said.
The pope has come under harsh criticism since last month for lifting the excommunication of Williamson and last week the Vatican called on him to retract his negationist statements, which he has refused to do.
Replying to the pope, Rabbi Marc Schneier, head of the American Jewish congress, said his community had faced "painful and difficult days" because of Williamson's comments.
"Thank you for your understanding of our pain and anguish and your firm statement expressing unquestioned solidarity with the Jewish people," he added, highlighting how Jews face "the new scourge of anti-Semitism, the desecration and burning of synagogues."
The pope on January 24 lifted excommunication of Williamson and three other members of a breakaway fraternity that rejected the Vatican reforms of the early 1960s.
They rejected a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ.
Three days before the pope's move, Swedish television aired an interview with Williamson recorded last November in which he repeated his denial of the existence of Nazi gas chambers.
The comments set off a torrent of outrage, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel leading political condemnation of the pope's move.
Williamson told the German weekly Der Spiegel last week that he would reexamine the historical evidence of the Nazi gas chambers but made no indication that he had changed his views.
Benedict also told the American delegation he was "preparing to visit Israel, a land which is holy for Christians as well as Jews, since the roots of our faith are to be found there."
The Vatican has been in talks with Israel for a possible visit by the pope in May, but the Williamson affair had cast doubt on the trip.
News reports said it would take place May 8-14 and include stops in Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem as well as the Jordanian capital Amman.
On Thursday, Benedict recalled Pope John Paul II's 2000 visit to Jerusalem, saying: "If there is one particular image which encapsulates this commitment, it is the moment when (he) stood at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, pleading for God?s forgiveness after all the injustice that the Jewish people have had to suffer."
Saying he wanted to make that prayer, "my own," the pope quoted his predecessor's words: "We are deeply saddened by the behaviour of those who in the course of history have caused (Jews) to suffer, and, asking your forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the covenant." |
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Blood traders are trying to keep me away from Shazia Murder case. Bishop Timotheus Nasir |
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Lahore: February 17, 2010. (PCP) Bishop Timotheus Nasir expressed disappointment on handling of Shazia murder case by some Christian forces in Pakistan |
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and termed them as traders of Blood of poor Christians
The Pakistan Christian Congress PCC had appealed to honorable Bishop T. Nasir on February 9, 2010, to meet family of 12 years old Christian girl Shazia who was murdered by his influential Muslim employer in Lahore while PCC was not satisfied on role of CLAAS and NCJP in court proceedings of victim.
Bishop Timotheus Nasir who is also Principal of Faith Theological Seminary Gujranwala, confirmed PCC that he will get medical reports of Shazia to ensure justice.
Pakistan Christian Post PCP in covering Shazia case expressed fear that some elements can damage campaign for justice to poor victim Shazia which are issuing statements as Catholic Girl Shazia Catholic Federal Minister Shabaz Bhatti Catholic Punjab Minister Michael Kamran Catholic Human Right Commission NCJP Catholic Legal Aid CLAAS to bag credit.
On February 13, 2010, accused Mohammad Naeem was released on bail by session court on grounds of postmortem reports which declared cause of death Skin infection not rape-killing.
Bishop Nasir engaged senior advocates to plead Shazia murder case but CLAAS and NCJP insisted to lead case but failed to produced their legal team in proceedings of case in relevant courts.
Today, Bishop Timotheus Nasir told PCC in grief I failed in Shazia case to provide any legal assistance when Catholic Church blocked our way ahead
Bishop Nasir added The traders of Christian blood are not interested in Shazia's murder case and they are trying to keep any one out who really cares. I may be wrong but the Roman Catholics have never cooperated
In case of Bishop John Joseph murder I proved that it was a murder yet they hushed up the case told Bishop Nasir
He further said I think I should rest now and let Roman Catholics handle their own affairs |
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Pope Bendedict's condemnation of Holocaust denial not enough: Abe Foxman |
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Rome: February 14, 2009. (Haaretz) Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, sought to temper the enthusiastic responses expressed by Jewish leaders following their meeting on Thursday with Pope Benedict XVI over the reinstatement of a bish |
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"The problematic and controversial chapter of the church and the matter of Holocaust denial do not end with the pope's declaration condemning Holocaust denial," Foxman told Haaretz.
Foxman, who was present at the meeting in the Vatican, refused to echo the compliments which other Jewish leaders feted the pope over his forceful denunciations of Holocaust denial.
"A meeting between Jews and the pope is always an important, historic event," Foxman said. Yet, "as long as the church allows an anti-Semitic bishop who denies the Holocaust to continue in his post under the aegis of the church, this means that the church is saying one thing yet doing another."
Foxman, himself a Holocaust survivor, seeks to emphasize that he appreciates the pope's condemnation and his moving statements on his planned visit to Israel. Yet, in his words, "you cannot say that you are against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial when you allow an anti-Semitic bishop and Holocaust denier to continue serving in the clergy."
"The church gave the bishop enough time to recant," Foxman said. "But he asked for forgiveness only from the pope and he said he is waiting for proof that indeed six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and the Nazis used gas chambers."
"Holocaust denial is a crime by law in key countries," Foxman said. "Only after the church recants from the rehabilitation and restores his prior standing as excommunicated can we say that the matter of the church and Holocaust denial has been solved."
The ADL is the largest Jewish organization active in the United States. |
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Pakistani Christians in mainstream? No Christian Justice among 31 new appointees in Higher courts |
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Karachi: February 19, 2010. (PCP) Pakistan Christian Congress PCC central secretariat issued a statement of Dr. Nazir s Bhatti, President of PCC here today |
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expressing grave concern on appointment of not any Christian Justice in Lahore High Court and Sindh High Court when notification of 31 new Justices was issued by government of Pakistan.
Nazir S Bhatt said When 20 million Christians of Pakistan demand 13% representation in democratic institutions proportional to population then Muslim leaders claim that they are in mainstream politics and enjoy equal rights but whenever there is opportunity for due share Christians are forgotten as they do not exist in Pakistan
There is already no Christian Justice in Supreme Court of Pakistan nor in four High Courts and now when there are new appointment of 31 judges in higher courts, there are only Muslim in notification added Nazir Bhatti
Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC urged Muslim political parties which have high jacked Christian vote bank through imposing Joint Electorate to appoint Christian Justices in Supreme Court of Pakistan, Lahore High Court, Sindh High Court, Peshawar High Court and Balochistan High Court unless Christians shall be forced to right action.
Christian are deprived of voting rights to elect their representatives nor justice is ensured on victimization by Muslim majority said Nazir Bhatti
It is on record that selected Christian parliamentarians failed again to press upon government or to raise voice to give due share to Christians in Judiciary.
Nazir Bhatti said Christians are voiceless in Pakistan having no due representation in higher court, armed forces, civil services, parliament and Senate of Pakistan
Nazir Bhatti added Muslim political leaders are not sincere on representation of Christians but selecting their tools to end our voice in Pakistan
I am surprised that Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Mohammar Choudry also neglected Christians or denied existence of millions of Christians in Pakistan when he enlisted Muslim justices from every District in Punjab and Sindh said Nazir Bhatti |
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Pope to visit Israel in May |
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Jerusalem: February 15, 2009. Pope Benedict will visit Israel in May, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said, confirming the spring pilgrimage and avoiding any mention of tense Catholic-Jewish relations over a Holocaust-denying bishop. |
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"This May, we will receive a special visitor, Pope Benedict XVI," Olmert told his cabinet, without giving an exact date. "President Shimon Peres will accompany him to various sites in Israel."
Olmert, who is usually effusive in his praise of friendly foreign leaders, said matter-of-factly that he hoped Benedict's pilgrimage "would be conducted in the proper atmosphere and be as successful as the previous pope's visit".
Benedict confirmed on Thursday he would go to Israel, and Vatican sources said the trip, the first by a pope to the Holy Land since John Paul visited in 2000, was expected in May.
Catholic-Jewish relations have been extremely tense since Jan. 24, when Benedict lifted excommunications of four renegade traditionalist bishops in an attempt to heal a schism that began in 1988 when they were ordained without Vatican permission.
One of the bishops, Richard Williamson, denies the full extent of the Holocaust and says there were no gas chambers.
The Vatican has ordered him to recant but he so far has not done so, saying he needs more time to review the evidence.
Faced with Jewish anger over Williamson's remarks on the Holocaust, the pope said during a meeting with American Jewish leaders on Thursday that "any denial or minimisation of this terrible crime is intolerable". |
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Pope Benedict To Canonize Quebec's First Saint Oct. 17 |
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Vatican City: February 23, 2010. (AHN) - Pope Benedict XVI announced over the weekend the canonization Oct. 17 of six people as saints. Included in the roster is Brother Andre Bessette, who will be Quebec's first saint. |
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Brother Andre was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1978 and blessed in 1982. He is known for ministering to the needs of the sick and the poor in Montreal.
Brother Andre will be the first saint from the religious order Congregation of the Holy Cross. He joined the order in 1874, first as a door keeper and a barber at a Montreal school operated by the order. It was there that he became known for his healing ministry, by rubbing oil on the wounds and sick limbs of people, who became well. The oil was burned under a statue of Saint Joseph., to whom Brother Andre is a devotee.
He founded the St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, which receives two million visitors yearly. Brother Andre died in the city in 1937 at 91.
Aside from Brother Andre, the five others to be canonized as saints are:
Polish preacher and confessor Stanislaw Soltys Kazimierczyck from the Canons Regulars of the Lateran,
Spanish nun and founder of the Daughters of Jesus order Juana Josefa Cipitria Barriola,
Italian founder of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order Giulia Salzano,
Italian Poor Clare member Camilla Battista Varano and Australian nun and
founder of the Sisters of Sr. Joseph of the Sacred Heart order Mary MacKillop. |
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Pakistan, Islamists agree sharia law deal |
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PESHAWAR: February 16, 2009. (AFP) Pakistan and Islamic hardliners signed a deal to enforce sharia law in the northwest Swat valley on Monday, which authorities hope will usher in peace as a suspected US missile strike killed 22 people. |
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At least one missile fired by a suspected drone struck the Taliban centre in Bhagan, part of a remote mountain stronghold for the hardline movement which is waging a fierce insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.
"One missile fired by a suspected US drone destroyed the Taliban centre," a top Pakistani security official told AFP.
"The latest update from the area is that 22 people, mainly militants, were killed in the missile strike," said a second security official, who earlier said 18 people died.
The latest strike came as the government and Islamic hardliners signed the agreement to enforce sharia law in the northwestern Swat valley, where fighting has raged between militants and troops, a provincial minister said.
Militants announced a 10-day ceasefire in the valley on Sunday as a goodwill gesture while talks were held between the government of troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and a local militant leader, Soofi Mohammad.
"Today an agreement has been signed between the government of NWFP and Maulana Soofi Mohammed," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"All laws against sharia will be abolished and sharia will be enforced under this justice system," he added.
There was no official word from the militants on the agreement, which the authorities hope will being peace to the troubled region. The deal on imposing sharia will cover the Malakand area, one of the districts of NWFP that includes the Swat valley.
"It is my hope that the armed people will disarm themselves, give up the path of violence and work for restoration of peace in Swat," said chief minister of NWFP Amir Haider Hoti.
Until two years ago, Swat was a jewel in the crown of Pakistani tourism, frequented by foreign and local holidaymakers escaping to the mountains for skiing in winter or cooler climes in the punishing heat of summer.
But the northwest region descended into chaos after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah embarked on a terrifying campaign to enforce Taliban-style sharia law, prompting thousands of people to flee and suffocating day-to-day life.
Pakistan, under massive Western pressure to clamp down on extremists, has pressed military offensives in an attempt to flush out the militants and wrest back control of Swat, which locals say has fallen to the insurgents.
The suspected US drone attack was the first in Kurram, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal areas in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban are fighting US-led, NATO and Western-backed Afghan forces.
One security official said most of the dead were Afghan Taliban fighters and that commanders had been staying at the hideout.
The centre was used to store weapons and lodge militants resting from bouts of fighting in Afghanistan. Local Taliban followers sealed off the area Monday.
The attack underscored vanished hopes in Pakistan that the administration of US President Barack Obama would review the policy and abandon what Islamabad has called a violation of its sovereignty.
On Saturday, at least 27 mainly Al-Qaeda foreign operatives were killed in a suspected US missile strike that destroyed a major Taliban training camp of top commander Baitullah Mehsud near the Afghan border.
Dozens of similar strikes since August have sparked government criticism of the United States, believed to be firing the missiles from CIA drones.
The lawless tribal areas have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels sought refuge in the region after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001.
Washington has refused to acknowledge conducting missile strikes in Pakistan, but last week Senator Dianne Feinstein said US drones used to strike suspected insurgents in the country take off and land from a base in Pakistan. Pakistan rejects US and Afghan accusations that the government is not doing enoh to crack down on militants, who wage attacks across the border. |
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Tension high after Muslims attack on Christian colony Pahar Ganj in Karachi. |
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Karachi: February 24, 2010. (PCP) Hundreds of Muslims attacked on Christian colony Pahar Ganj after a petty dispute between Muslim fruit vendor and Christian customer here today in port city of Karachi. |
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The Christian customer picked one fruit item and checked it which was not like by Muslim vendor and he attacked Christian and started beating him. As Muslim vendor was on main entrance of residential area of more than 1,500 homes of Christians known as Pahar Ganj, some Christians approached and wanted to diffuse situation which angered Muslim vendor and he yelled Muslims brothers come and let us teach lesson to Bangis
Word Bangi is used for Christians as hate to their religion in Sindh province of Pakistan while Churra in Punjab province and NWFP.
Pahar Ganj is situated in Central Distinct of Karachi with more than 5 thousand registered voters while there are 3 million Christians in Karachi metropolitan city.
The Muslim mob vandalized St. Marys Church, of Church of Pakistan , attacked shops and burnt down motorcycles.
The Pathan community surrounds Pahar Ganj, Christian colony and hate among Pushtons settled here in Karachi is always remained on religious grounds.
According to fides, Fr Edward Joseph, Pastor of St Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi said: "The people were very frightened, but now all is calm. Certainly, in the city the climate is rather tense, especially the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims that has reached the point of extreme violence. Sometimes, religious minorities like Christians are victims of this simmering tension, which is at the point of explosion for petty reasons. After the riots on Sunday, police took control of the situation and now patrol the streets of the neighborhood. Even the churches are protected by guards" |
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Christanland! A Day Dream Land of a Day Dreamer! By Bishop Timotheus Nasir |
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In year 2006, a Mullah filled a Law Suit against me after he failed to face me in an open debate. The news of this Law Suit was sent to Pakistan Christian Post and by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, |
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thousands of people responded and wrote to the government of Pakistan and protested against that Law Suit. The Law Suit against me was withdrawn, yet I surrendered my Pakistani Nationality in protest against discriminatory attitude of Muslim majority and silence of the government of Pakistan. Taking advantage of my situation and protest, Mr. Raymond W. Durrani, tried to cash my decision to surrender my Pakistani Nationality, took out a Map of Pakistan and drew some lines on it and to attract the attention of the people, floated an idea of a separate Homeland for Christians and named this drawing on the map Christland. This put me in another problem and I had to give clarifications to various government agencies and Muslim Clergy. I also wrote an article Dont use my shoulders to fire your gun. I surrendered my nationality in protest and not to create a separate State. I am a Pakistani who is proud of his country Pakistan, whatever the situation may be. I may be having many reservations on sad situation of Christian minority, I love Pakistan and I would be the last person to demand or support any idea of dividing my country into any Land.
In my humble opinion if Mr. Raymond W. Durrani is so keen to create a Christian country within the geographical boundaries of Pakistan, he should come to Pakistan and try to muster some support from local Pakistani Christian community. Relaxing in safe heavens it is very convenient to float such insanity. I would ask him to come to Pakistan and announce demand Christland he would not find even ten people who will support him.
It bothers me that some Black Sheep type Pakistani living abroad want to disrupt the day to day life of Pakistani Christians living in Pakistan, that are not ideal though yet far more better than the countries they live in. I would ask Mr. Durrani to demand Christland in the country he lives in, and muster support for his Day Dream Land. I challenge him that he would be on next flight to Pakistan.
Mr. Raymond W. Durrani, in his insanity writes rubbish for people who have been respected all over the world for their outstanding achievements in religious field and for their services for the Christian community of Pakistan. He forgets his past and even his own present. Yet he must remember that many people do know what he is and what he was. He is an empty mind which has become devils workshop. By blaming people of high stature, he only reveals his limited scope of thinking. I wish he had given remarks on Dr. K. L. Nasir during his life time, he would have cleared the dirt of his brain in a very affectionate way. It is being very unfair to a deceased man that he should be alleged without any proof when he is in his grave and can not give befitting reply. However putting any blame on Dr. K. L. Nasir is spitting at the heaven and the result is known to every one. As far as I am concerned, Mr. Raymond W. Durrani may say any stupid thing about me, I really dont care for ill informed self proclaimed Revolutionary. I try to serve my Lord in the best possible way and I do not use any ones shoulder to fire my gun. Collecting funds from abroad is not a crime. There are hundreds of thousand organizations in the world that are helping the destitute around the world by collecting funds from abroad. If Mr. Durrani is not getting any funding from any where, myself or any other organization is not responsible for that. I can understand the jealousy of Mr. Raymond W. Durrani, yet I have no remedy for his jealousy. May Lord God show the right way and stop him from day dreaming and throwing mud on any one who does not believe in his Day Dream Land. |
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Police harassment after Muslim mob attack on Karachi Christians |
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Karachi: February 26, 2010; (PCP) When Christian leaders were having reconciliation meetings with Muslims after attack on Christian colony Pahar Ganj in Central District of Karachi, police was registering cases against Christians to turn Muslim mob a |
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Hundreds of Muslims attacked on Christian colony Pahar Ganj after a petty dispute between Muslim fruit vendor and Christian customer here today in port city of Karachi on February 21, 2010.
According to PCP, The Christian customer picked one fruit item and checked it which was not like by Muslim vendor and he attacked Christian and started beating him. As Muslim vendor was on main entrance of residential area of more than 1,500 homes of Christians known as Pahar Ganj, some Christians approached and wanted to diffuse situation which angered Muslim vendor and he yelled Muslims brothers come and let us teach lesson to Bangis Word Bangi is used for Christians as hate to their religion in Sindh province of Pakistan while Churra in Punjab province and NWFP.
The Muslim mob vandalized St. Marys Church, of Church of Pakistan , attacked shops and burnt down motorcycles.
Police raided today Pahar Ganj on February 26, 2010, to arrest Christians and disclosed that 40 Christians were involved in riots. |
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NATO says Pakistan deal with militants a concern |
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BRUSSELS: February 17, 2009. NATO on Tuesday expressed concern after Pakistan signed a pact with Islamists to introduce Islamic law in the northwestern Swat valley in a bid to take the steam out of a Taliban uprising there. |
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"We would all be concerned by a situation in which extremists would have safe haven," NATO spokesman James Appathuraitold a news briefing. "It is certainly reason for concern."
NATO heads an international force battling Taliban militants in Pakistan's neighbor Afghanistan. Reuters |
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Seven Muslim landlords illegally occupy Christians homes. By: Jawad Mazhar |
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Sargodha, Pakistan: March 1, 2010. (PCP) A group of seven (07) influential, rich and fanatic Muslim men allegedly ransacked homes of four (04) hapless Christians |
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brandished deadly firearms and opened fire on Christian families to terrorize them in a bid to occupy their (Christians) homes at Jinnah Abad slum of Chak (village) # 45 SB (Southern Branch) within the Police precincts of Police Station Atta Shaheed located some 45 Km East of Sargodha district in Pakistans Punjab province on Jan 09th. Christian took to the streets, chanting slogans against the Muslim land mafia and negligence of concerned Police Officials and flocked up in front of District Police Officer (DPO) Sargodha, victim Christian families and demonstrators apprized PCP about their ordeal. Two Injured Christians were immediately shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Sargodha.
Talking to PCP, a Christian demonstrator and eye witness Aamir Austin resident of the neighboring Chak (village) # 44 SB said a group of dominant, powerful and influential local landlords identified as Muhammad Sharif, Muhammad Shafiq, Muhammad Sadiq, Muhammad Shaukat, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Afzal and Muhammad Amjad on Jan 09th forced their way on gunpoint in to the homes of Christian residents of Jinnah Abad slum of Chak # 45 SB and sprayed bullets on four (04) pathetic Christian families and unlawfully occupied their homes, wrecked household appliances and injured two Christians critically.
Talking to PCP about their ordeal, heads of four (04) victim Christians families identified as Matloob Masih, Arshad Masih, James Masih and Rehmat Masih said that during the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Khan Junajoos regime they were allotted residential plots No. 150, 151, 152 and 163 at Jinnah Abad slum of Chak (village) # 45 SB and since then they had been living there peacefully with other Muslim villagers. They allegedly went on saying, now a group of Seven (07) powerful, biased and rich Muslim local landlords identified as Muhammad Sharif, Muhammad Shafiq, Muhammad Sadiq, Muhammad Shaukat, Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Afzal and Muhammad Amjad wanted to occupy their homes illegally and taking us (Christians) a soft target on Jan 09th they ransacked our homes and threw us and our household items out of our homes and occupied our homes. Matloob Masih sadly allegedly added that in a bid to occupy our homes they left two Christian youths critically injured and now they were at DHQ hospital under the observation of doctors.
Replying to a question by PCP Rehmat Masih said that they complaint to the relevant Atta Shaheed Police Station for registration of a case against the seven fanatic Muslim occupants. Masih regretted that Atta Shaheed Police derelictly desisted from taking action against the rich and dominant Muslim landlords.
Rehmat Masih said that during the days and nights of winter they were compelled to live either at homes of their relatives or under the open sky.
A Christian rights and political leader A. Hameed Gill said protesting in front of DPO office Sargodha that they had to protest because Atta Shaheed Police blatantly averted from taking timely action against the hardliner Muslim landlords., although they were informed about the action of Muslim landlords. Gill also said that two (02) Christian youths were critically injured by Muslim landlords,
Later a delegation of Christian leaders met Usman Anwer DPO Sargodha and Christian demonstrators dispersed peacefully on the assurance by DPO that a case would be registered against the fanatic Muslim men and that the land of Christians would be restored to them. DPO also assured that Muslim landlords would be apprehended, prosecuted and stern action would be taken against them by meting out them exemplary punishment for committing such a heinous crime.
On the other hand doctors in the DHQ hospital said that although both Christians were still in critical condition but they were out of danger and that they were recovering fast. -Update:
On Jan 17th despite the assurance of DPO to bring the culprits to the book, Muslim fanatic landlords again opened gun fire on pathetic, homeless and destitute Christian families. No causalities were reported during Jan 17th shootout. Reliable sources told PCP. |
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Muslims Murder Christian Employee for Requesting His Paycheck |
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Pakistan: February 17, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned that three Pakistani Muslim men murdered one of their Christian milk collection employees who demanded his wages for the p |
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The employee, Ashraf Masih, was 30 years old and had started the job two months ago in the village of Shajwal, Chak 172, GB. Two Muslim brothers, Muhammad Arfan and Muhammad Nadeem, and their nephew, Muhammad Imran, hired him to collect milk from various farms and houses.
In January, after working for a month, Ashraf came to collect his wages, but Arfan and Nadeem said that they would pay him two months' wages in another month.
Desperate to support his family, Ashraf returned on February 1 and demanded his wages. This enraged the three Muslim men, who said, "You are Esai [a derogatory term for Christians] and you demanded your pay from Muslims, what courage you have. We will finish you right now. Then go to your Esa [Christ], He will give you everything." After killing Ashraf, the three men fled.
Babu Victor, a Catechist of the Catholic Church in Pakistan, told ICC that a formal request for the police to investigate the case had been registered at the nearby police station of Dijkot, and police had started the investigation. At press time, the police had not found the murderers. |
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Muslim leader issues anti-terror fatwa |
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LONDON: March 2, 2010. (AP) The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism. |
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Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing "without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions."
Tahir-ul-Qadri has issued similar, shorter decrees, but Tuesday's event in London was publicized by the Quilliam Foundation, a government-funded anti-extremism think tank and drew strong media attention.
The religious scholar is the founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran, a worldwide movement that promotes a nonpolitical, tolerant Islam. The group has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, most of them in Pakistan or Pakistanis living in other countries |
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Daughter Fights Muslim Tenant and Police for Family Farm |
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Faisalabad: February 17, 2009. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned that a rich Muslim tenant has robbed his Christian landowner of several acres of farmland he is renting in Faisalabad, P |
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Distressed by the situation, the elderly Christian landowner died, and his daughter is now trying to recover the family farm, but police have refused to pursue the case.
This is another example of how Muslims in Pakistan specifically target their criminal activities against Christians because they know the justice system is prejudiced against non-Muslims.
Mehnga Masih, a Christian farmer, owned 11 acres of agricultural land in the village Chak 51 GB of Faisalabad district, and rented five acres of the land in 1998 to a Muslim farmer, Zahoor Ahmad Khan, for eleven years. Their contract provided that the land would remain the sole property of Mehnga Masih and Khan would only use it for producing crops.
After a few years, however, Khan cut down several trees so he could build a farmhouse and hired some men to work from his new farmhouse, none of which was allowed based on his contract with Mehnga. To make matters worse, Khan then tried to build a mosque on Mehnga's property.
Mehnga reminded Khan that he could not build without permission, but Khan retorted that he was the owner of the land and could do anything he wanted. Mehnga successfully stopped him from building the mosque by gaining the support of his neighbors, but Khan refused to take down the farmhouse he had built.
Mehnga's daughter, Josephine Akhtar Mehnga, told ICC, "That was a shocking thing for us and we smelled that Khan was planning something wrong and wanted to grab the land." In the meantime, however, Mehnga became seriously ill and died. Josephine is convinced that the stress over Khan's activities drove her father to his grave.
After Mehnga's death, Josephine discovered that Khan had forged documents to say that he owned all 11 acres of the Christian family's farm.
In 2005, Josephine and her brothers made an official request for police action against Khan, but the police refused to follow up on the application, and so Khan became more emboldened in his forged claim to the land.
Lease Runs Out, but Muslim Tenant Refuses to Leave
The matter recently came to a head because, according to the contract, Khan was supposed to vacate the land on January 13, 2009. Josephine and her brothers visited Khan to tell him that it was time for him to leave, but Khan held fast in his claim to the land. Josephine said that the two sides exchanged "harsh words" and then the Christians left.
Almost two weeks later, police showed up at Josephine's home to arrest her and her brothers for "attacking" Khan's farmhouse during their visit on January 13. The police told Josephine that Khan had registered a case against her family, claiming that Josephine, her brothers and other relatives had vandalized Khan's farmhouse, damaged his crops and harassed his farm workers on January 13.
Though Josephine's brothers were not at home, the police still attempted to arrest her but stopped after a local Christian human rights group intervened.
Josephine and her family are now living in fear. Josephine criticized the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Turkhani police station for not taking her case against Khan but instead taking his case against her family, suspecting that the SHO must have received a bribe from Khan. |
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Pakistan: Punjab: Christian couple touches Quran with dirty hands, gets 25 years in prison |
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Islamabad: March 4, 2010. (Spero News) A court in Kasur district, Punjab, convicted a Christian couple, Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi |
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to 25 years in prison. According to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), judge Ajmal Hussein convicted the couple for touching the Quran without washing their hands.
Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi were released on bail last January, but were re-arrested after the judge ruled against them. The husband was locked up in Kasurs district prison; the wife was sent to the womens prison in Multan. Both have started serving 25 years behind bars.
CLAAS, an association that fights for the rights of the poor and marginalised, said that the couple was accused of contaminating the Quran when they touched it without washing their hands.
The incident, which dates back to December 2008, unleashed the fury of Muslim extremists who put pressure on police. Unconfirmed reports suggest that extremists paid off police agents to discover new evidence to justify the sentence.
At the end of the police investigation, husband and wife were charged with blasphemy.
The blasphemy law is the harshest tool for religious repression available in Pakistan. It was adopted in 1986 by then dictator Zia ul-Haq to protect Islam and its prophet, Muhammad, from attacks and insults.
In fact, it is actually comprised of sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which respectively punish with life in prison anyone who defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran, and imposes the death penalty on anyone who defiles the name of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the last two months, there were two more convictions against Christians in Pakistan.
On 11 January, a court in Faisalabad sentenced Imran Masih, a 26-year-old Christian man, to life imprisonment for insulting and desecrating the Koran. He was accused of deliberately burning Quranic verses and an Arabic book in order foment interfaith hatred and hurt the feelings of Muslims.
On 25 February, a court in Karachi sentenced Qamar David, also a Christian, to life imprisonment for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims when he sent blasphemous SMS.
CLAAS announced that it was filing an appeal with the High Court in Lahore to have the 25-year sentence against Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi overturned. |
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13 years old Christian girl gang raped by 5 Muslims in Punjab. Pakistani British Christians lodge strong protest on incident. |
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Sangla Hill: February 17, 2009. (PCP) Five Muslim men dragged one teenage Christian girl to their compound and gang raped her in broad daylight amid her cries while Muslim elders of neighborhood passed by smiling. |
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13 years Christian girl came out of home to dump trash but on the way Mohammad Kako and Mohammad Kala kidnapped her and forcibly on gunpoint pushed her to their compound in Muslim neighborhood. There were three more Muslim men present and they gang raped her.
The family members of teenage Christian girl kept looking for girl whole day but when they were passing by home of Kako Mohammad they heard screaming of their daughter.
Muslim rapists fled away by firing shots in air when they heard knocks at door and parents of victim girl took their girl to home.
The news of gang raped spread among Christian community who gathered in house of victim girl. Mr. Sohtra, a local Christian attorney approached the magistrate for medical examination of victim where doctors confirmed this brutal rape.
Sangla Hill is same city in province of Punjab where Christian schools, hostel and Church were burnt by Muslim mob few years back.
The UK Pakistani Christian Community have lodged strong protest and pressed upon Chief Minister of Punjab and Federal Minority Minister to arrest the culprits. Ex-Lord Mayor Mr. James Shera, Chaudry Aslam Bhatti, Tariq Chaudry and Salman Akhtar Bhatti have condemn the incident. |
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Punjab government orders re-investigation of Korian and Gojra Muslim mob attacks |
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Faisalabad: March 5, 2010. (Shahid Anwar) On the directives of Rana Sanaullah, Provincial Law Minister, Punjab, an investigation into Korian and Gojra attacks had been restarted in January 2010 |
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because complainants were not contented with pervious investigations. He deputed Mr. Yousaf Ali Hurl, Senior Superintendent of Police, SSP-Faisalabad, for supervising said investigation. In Gojra case, SSP recorded about 45 statements of complainant party and 30 statements of accused party for declaring their innocence. In Korian case, he recorded about 5 statements of aggrieved party and 46 statements of aggressors for claiming themselves as innocent. The next hearing of said investigation will be heard on 8th March 2010.
Update Gojra and Korian attacks:
BRIEF HISTORY OF INCIDENT:
On the evening of 30th July 2009, a mob attacked Christian community on the accusation of alleged blasphemy by Mukhtar Masih, Talib Masih and his son Imran Masih of village Korian (7km from Gojra), District Toba Tek Singh. During the violent attacks, armed mob torched 57 homes of Christians, looted their belongings and desecrated the churches and religious books. In reaction to alleged desecration of the Holy Quran in Korian Village, another mob attacked Christian Colony in Gojra city on 1st August 2009. They burnt down 68 houses and killed 7 Christians including three women and two children, plundered their belongings and ransacked churches. Afterwards, separate cases were registered against hundred of attackers involved in both cases.
The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), Faisalabad is legally pursuing both the cases. The recent developments in said cases are as follows:
GOJRA CASE:
On 2nd March 2010, 42 accused of Gojra attacks were produced before Judge of Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) Faisalabad, including 6 detained accused and 36 were those who are on bail. These 42 accused will be re-produced before court on 16th March 2010 for charge frame. The police has already declared 47 accused as fugitive; those were nominated in FIR (First Information Report) and supplementary statements by complainant and witnesses.
KORIAN CASE:
On 2nd March 2010, 54 accused of Korian attacks were produced before Judge of Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) Faisalabad, including 8 detained accused and 46 were those who are on bail. These 54 accused will be re-appeared before court on 16th March 2010 for charge frame. The police has already announced 49 accused as absconder. |
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Pelosi has audience with Pope Benedict XVI |
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VATICAN CITY: Feb. 18, 2009. Lawmakers have a responsibility to protect human life, Pope Benedict XVI told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Vatican said Wednesday. |
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Benedict said the Roman Catholic Church requires ''all Catholics, especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society'' to promote life from conception to death during what Vatican officials called a "brief" meeting Wednesday with Pelosi, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Although she is a practicing Catholic, Pelosi, D-Calif., supports U.S. President Barack Obama's positions on stem cell research, abortion rights and bioethics.
In a statement, Pelosi said she and her husband Paul "had the opportunity to praise the church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel."
She said also she showed Benedict photographs of her children and grandchildren. UPI |
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Pakistan: Sharia Act on non-Muslims is unconstitutional. Agnes Massey |
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Toronto, Canada: March 8, 2010. (PCP) Agnes Massey, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC Canadian Chapter said here today on International Day of Women |
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that Pakistani Christian women are deprived of their equal rights and suffering under Sharia law.
Agnes Massey said I predicted during General Elections of 1985, just after the Referendum of President General Zia ul Haq, who announced Hadood Ordinance through Maglis-e-shora. I protested from his stage that Chastity of Christian girls is not safe. President asked me what happened? I replied that due to Qanoon-e-Shahadat, if Muslim will abduct a lady from Minority communities and commit adultery, then evidence will be from Muslim side and not from non-Muslims side, which is very unjust. and burning point of the day. President asked me for representation, which I handed over to him immediately, who thanked me for quick response
Moreover I pointed out to President Zial-Ul-Haq that Constituency for the National assembly is the whole country and for the Provincial Assembly is the whole province for minorities. Its very difficult to reach to our voters. I further suggested that there should be a double vote system. President announced from Chitral ,that he is responsible for the chastity of ladies from the minority communities.
Then Sharia Bill was tabled in the National Assembly which was passed only by120 members while mandatory majority to pass a Bill should be 2/3 members.
So practice of Sharia Act on non Muslims is illegal and unconstitutional could be challenged and it's easy for present Government to exempt minorities from Sharia act and allow them to practice their own personal laws.
According to the Constitution of Pakistan, Minorities are free to practice their religion while according to the Holy scriptures Christians are not allowed to embrace laws of other religion. You advised me to send my picture of speech with this article which I already sent you last week. |
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Police opens fire on Christian protestors in Sargodha. |
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Pakistan: February 19, 2009. According to ICC, a Washington DC based human right orgnization, International Christian Concern have published a report today that Pakistani police robbed a Christian widow on February 9. |
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When the widow's Christian neighbors flooded the streets to protest, the police returned and fired on the crowd, sparking a three-hour standoff.
Police Inspector Muhammad Afzal Lalli, a radical Muslim, was leading a drug bust in Sargodha, Pakistan, when two suspects hid in the home of a Christian widow. The raid occurred on February 9, and the widow's son, Arif Masih, told ICC, "At that time, none of us was at home, because a close relative of us had passed away and all of our family members had gone to their residence for mourning."
Police followed the suspects into the house, breaking open the door without a search warrant. "In our absence, Factory Area Police not only broke door locks of our residence, but they took my wife's gold jewelry and 20,000 Rupees cash [$283]," said Arif, an employee of the Pakistan Air Force.
When news of the police raid spread through the largely Christian neighborhood, approximately 300 young men flooded the streets to protest, burning tires on a main road and shouting slogans against the police.
The police Inspector and several policemen returned and opened fire on the Christian protest. When the crowd did not disperse, the officers charged the Christians and began beating protesters with their batons. The officers seized Arif and another young man, Azher Masih, and dragged them to the police van. The two men were later released.
At this, the crowd lost control and began throwing bricks and stones at the police. The officers called for backup, and an additional law enforcement team known as the Elite Force arrived to help put down the protest. An ICC correspondent overheard one of the members of this Elite Force say, "How dare these Chooras [literally, "street sweepers"; a pejorative term for Christians] protest against the police." For three hours the police went back and forth with the infuriated mob.
Finally, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Malik Manzoor Awan and a Christian representative, Mr. Farrukh Tanvir, intervened and appealed to both the police and the angry mob of Christians to cool down. DSP Awan promised the Christians that justice would be served and that the police officers responsible for the raid would be prosecuted. Police then formed a committee to investigate the incident.
In reporting this incident, however, all the Pakistani print and electronic media portrayed the event in a prejudiced manner by concealing the facts and claiming that "all Christians are drug runners."
Samuel Wallace, ICC's Regional Manager for South Asia, said, "While we cannot condone everything this Christian mob did, it is important to understand how pervasive Pakistani society's oppression of Christians is. Christians are constantly harassed, pushed down, and mocked, and rarely get justice from the authorities. It is the Pakistani government's responsibility to ensure that such riots do not happen by treating minorities fairly." |
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Pakistani Christian girl burnt alive after rape by Muslim employer |
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Lahore: March 11, 2010. (PCP) A Christian girl working as housemaid was raped by son her Muslim employer and on her threats to report police was burnt by rapist and his sister in city of Sheikhupura in Punjab province of Pakistan. |
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Kiran George was 80% burnt when Mohammad Ahmad Raza and his sister threw petrol on her and set her on fire to keep her mouth shut to report rape.
Kiran George was brought to Mayo Hospital Lahore from Sheikhupura on March 9, 2010, where she recorded her statement to police that Mohammad Ahmed Raza raped her in his home during work.
She died here in Mayo Hospital Lahore today and her dead body was taken back to her home in Jahangirabad colony in Sheipkupura.
Sheikhupura is some 40 miles from city of Lahore, Punjab.
Sources told PCP that Kiran George have complained with her friends about bad behavior of Mohammad Ahmad Raza to her friends but was hesitant to leave job due to poverty of her parents.
Muslim employer of Kiran George instead of taking her to hospital called her parents and made a story that her clothes caught fire when she was cleaning kitchen.
It is second case of rape-murder of Christian housemaid in Punjab, when Shazia Bashir was raped and murder by her Muslim employer Mohammad Naeem advocate on 21st January 2010, in city of Lahore.
According to PCP, the relatives of Kiran George blocked road and burnt tires and demanded arrest of killers. |
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J Salik distributes 900 Quilts among Swat displaced families. |
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Islamabad: February 21, 2009. (PCP) Former federal minister and Convener World minorities alliance J. Salik along with hundreds of Christian community members donated 900 quilts (Razayan) on humanitarian ground to the Swat affected families. |
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Leading the march of the Christian community, J. Salik handed over the quilts to the Member National Assembly from the war-torn Swat region, Syed Allaudin Aurangzeb who sent the loaded truck to the scenic Swat valley to help the affectees including women, children and elderly people.
It may be recalled that the scenic Swat valley witnessed bloody skirmishes between the Pakistani security forces and Taliban militants, which virtually left lives of the people paralyzed.
Most of the Swat valley common residents fled the area and shifted to relatively safer areas of the country to dodge the looming deteriorated situation.
Addressing the gathering on this occasion, J. Salik said, his Christian community established a good example to donate quilts (Razayan) to the Swat affectees. It is our gift to the Swat affectees at this critical juncture and we are donating this on humanitarian grounds.
He said that people from all walks of life from the country should come forward and help the affectees of tribal belt who were forced to spend chilly. |
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Muslims attack Christian family to withdraw kidnap case of 13 years old girl |
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Lahore: March 13, 2010. (PCP) Mr. Ezra Shujaat advocate have filed a Writ Petition in High Court to lodge First Information Report FIR against Muslim attackers on a Christian Family |
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when police denied to register case on request of injured family.
According to reports, on February 26, 2010, at 3;00 PM when Muneeran Bibi along with her father and other sisters was doing house hold, five Muslims, Mohammad Sajid equipped with pistol, Mohammad Shareef equipped with Knife, Mohammad Wajid holing a stick, and two unknown persons forcibly entered in their home and started beating them,
Mohammad Shreef loudly instructed his companions to kidnap Muneeran and her younger sister Sheena, but when the family resisted, they torn the clothes of Muneeran and others.
Mohammad Shareef attacked Muneeran and gave four injures with knife, Muneeran fell down unconscious, during this people from neighbor hood came and attackers ran away.
Muuneeran Bibi was taken to hospital but fist police refused to lodge FIR on which Advocate Ezra Shujaat filed writ petition in court and got the order for lodging FIR,
In fact on 8th April 2007,on Easter Sunday .the younger sister of Muneeran ,named Sheena aged 13 years was kidnapped and sexually abused by four Muslims.
The trial of kidnapping of Sheena is pending in court and on final stage. Now,the family was attacked to pressurize them to withdraw pending case. |
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Noshi, a Christian girl in custody of Muslim kidnappers from one year. |
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Sahiwal, Pakistan: February 22, 2009. (NM Gill reports for PCP) The hearing of Noshi kidnapping case is set for hearing in Sahiwal Session Court on numerous petitions filed by prominent Christian lawyer Javeed Sohtra to free her. |
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Noshi, a 23 years old Christian girl, resident of village Chak 190-9L in district Sahiwal was kidnapped by gang of Muslims in year 2008, who broke in their home and looted 50,000 Rupees and then took away Noshi with them on gunpoint.
The father of Noshi was also present in home who was put on hold at gun in other room of house. Maqbool Masih, father of Noshi is living in this village from decades and supporting his family.
Sahiwal is district in north western area of Punjab province of Pakistan where Islamic extremism is rising up from a decade due to some ban Muslim terrorist organization with their headquarters in Bahawalpur and DG Khan.
The Christian own agriculture land which was acquired by Salvation Army and distributed among Christian peasants before independence of Pakistan in 1947.
The Muslims of other villages want to grab this valuable agricultural land of Christians and using Islam for their tactics.
In wake of land grabbing Muslim mob attacked and burnet down Christian Village named Shanti Nagar in 1998.
It is learnt that Muslim abductors have forcibly converted Noshi to Islam and chained her in any undisclosed place.
Maqbool Masih is struggling for freedom of his daughter Noshi and begging for justice on every door of Christian leaders and Bishops but non is supporting him except one Christian attorney Javeed Sohtra who shall appear in Session Courts for production of Noshi in court for statement and punishment of Muslim robbers and abductors. |
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Press conference on religious persecution of Christian minorities draws diverse panel: Examiner |
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Washington DC: March 16, 2010. (By Justina Uram) On Friday, March 12, representatives of human rights organizations and advocates for religious freedom came together |
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for a press conference at The National Press Club in Washington, DC. Sponsored by Voice of the Copts, the press conference focused on the continued and largely unchecked persecution of Egypt's Christians, or Copts, as well as accounts of similar religious persecution in Pakistan.
Incidentally, that same day, the United States Commission on International and Religious Freedom (USCIRF), released a report detailing the unprosecuted violence against Egypt's Copts.
"Since 2002, Egypt has been on the USCIRF 'Watch List' as a country with serious religious freedom violations, including widespread problems of discrimination, intolerance, and other human rights violations against members of religious minorities."
Friday's press conference dealt with two of major instances of persecution facing Copts today; first, the case of Mohamed Hegazy, an Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity and unsuccessfully sought official recognition of his conversion from the Egyptian government. The second key issue was the Christmas Eve killings of six Coptic Christians this past January, which was also a key focus of USCIRF's report.
Ashraf Edwards, attorney for Hegazy, was scheduled to be Fridays keynote speaker. Edwards recently filed an appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief on behalf of Hegazy and was expected to explain Hegazy's case, which is the first of its kind, during the press conference.
Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, President of Voice of the Copts, explained that Edwards was prevented from attending the press conference because his visa application was stalled by American officials, even though the application was filed timely and properly. Ramelah relayed that Edwards specifically told him that an American official, after uncovering the reason for and date of his visit to the US, questioned whether Edwards really wanted to speak to Americans about this matter and then purposely granted his visa for the day after the press conference. Ramelah indicated that he plans to write an open letter to United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling for an investigation into this matter.
Following Ramelah's opening remarks, Jeffrey Imm, Founder of Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) spoke about the ongoing persecution of Egypt's Christians. He likened the plight of Copts with America's Civil Rights movement, explaining that the answer to Egypt's strife cannot come solely from the Coptic minority, but through a joint effort supported by members of the Muslim majority.
"Today, I urge Egyptian Muslims, on behalf of the oppressed Egyptian Copts...to choose wisely for their future, their children's future, and their nation's future. Choose to end the oppression of Copts in Egypt and the bondage of all Egyptians from codes that defy our shared universal human rights."
Jordan Sekulow and Shaheryar S. Gill of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) remarked on the importance of religious freedom.
Gill, an ACLJ attorney, assisted with the recent petition filed with the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief on behalf of Hegazy. He explained, "Egypt's own law provides that you can change your religion, but only to Muslim." Gill urged all Americans that "it is time to open our eyes and ears to these issues."
Faith McDonnell, the Director of Religious Liberty Programs at The Institute of Religion and Democracy, spoke on the ways religious persecution leads to the oppression of women and provided examples of how women are oppressed under Sharia law. McDonnell called for "a stop to the plight of women and girls in the Arab world."
The final speaker, Dr. Nazir Bhatti, President of The Pakistan Christian Congress, condemned the recent Christmas Eve massacre of Coptic Christians and spoke passionately about the latest instances of religious persecution against Pakistani Christians.
"The rising Islamic extremism in Islamic countries has created a feeling of insecurity among religious minorities. 2009 was the year of persecution of Christians in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, Malaysia and Pakistan."
Dr. Bhatti went on to explain his outrage concerning the recent, alleged cover-up of the rape, torture, and murder of Shazia Bashir, a young Christian girl in Lahore, Pakistan. The prime suspect is prominent Muslim attorney and politician, Mohammad Naeem Choudry, who employed Bashir as a maid. Bhatti called the treatment of this case a "mockery to justice" especially when considering that two weeks later, a Lahore judge sentenced a Christian couple to 25 years of imprisonment for "touching the Quran with unwashed hands."
Each of the speakers echoed a recurring message: that the plight of persecuted religious minorities in the Islamic world must be brought to attention of the American public. For more detailed information about last Fridays press conference, or the plight of Christian minorities, please contact the author at The Human Rights Blog. |
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PCC files Petition for Refugee Status for Pakistani Christians with UNO. |
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Philadelphia: February 25, 2009. (PCP) PCC filed here today a petition to award Refugee Status to Pakistani Christian with United Nations New York offices said Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress. |
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The letter of appeal to Secretary General UN Mr. Ban Ki Moon was released for press to Pakistani Newspapers also to bring facts on record.
Nazir Bhatti said, The threats from Christian tools of establishment to prevent me to file this petition with UNO are never counted by me because Christians cause of millions of oppressed Christians in Pakistan is my top priority not baseless propaganda against PCC by few opportunists and so-called Christian leaders
I have appealed to UNO secretary General to appoint special envoy to visit Pakistan and meet suffering Christian families and constitutional genocide to grant refugee status to general Christians and not to listen only to Bishops Conference of Pakistan, Church affiliated civil society organizations or commissions or study centers because such are speaking in their masters voice in government Bhatti said
Nazir Bhatti added It is time of direct meetings with oppressed and persecuted Christians by UNO delegates or International Forums because Christians have lost confidence in Church umbrella organization on their workings for vested interests
PCC is presenting contents of appeal to UNO for our readers:
Mr. Ban Ki Moon,
Secretary General,
United Nation Office,
New York.
Appeal to award Refugee Status to Pakistani Christian on constitutional genocide and persecution by Muslim in Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
His Excelleny,
I, the undersigned , Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC, on behalf of 20 million Christian in Islamic Republic of Pakistan wish to draw your kind attention on enforced migration and displacement of thousands of Christians from Swat valley, Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera and FATA after threats to convert to Islam or die by Islamist elements. These families are staying with their relatives in Punjab and Sindh provinces facing immense miseries and hardships after denial by government of Pakistan to provide any assistance or security. The hundreds of Christians families of victims of blasphemy are living in hiding for safety of life weather accused are acquitted or in jails. Thousands of Christian families keep on shifting residence in different parts of Pakistan on threats by influential Muslims or in fear of implication in fabricated cases by police. The mass migration of poor oppressed Christian is never brought on record by government of Pakistan nor any human right organization have urged for their settlement where they may live peaceful life.
It will be very important to note in 21st century that Christian are treated as untouchable by Muslim majority on basis of religion and cannot dine at any roadside vendor, restaurant and hotel which is worst type of hate on globe towards Christian in Pakistan. If any Christian on journey or away from home is hungry and attempts to eat in any Muslim owned dinner, he is beaten and tortured by Muslims and forced to pay for plates and glass in which he eats or any thing he have touched. The Pakistan Christian Congress PCC presented many memorandums to government from 1985-1998 to legislate against curse of un-touchable to ensure social justice in society but such demands were neglected. The curse of un-touchable have prevented Christians to take part in profitable catering industry because Pakistani Muslim terms Christians as infidel under Islamic decree which prohibit to eat any food prepared by them.
His Excellency,
The churches are being attacked, pastors are being threatened, social activists are charged under blasphemy, teenage girls are gang-raped by Muslims and Christian women are enforcedly converted to marry by Muslims in Pakistan. There are innocent Christians accused of blasphemy behind bars and hundreds facing trials under fabricated false cases; The Churches in Bahawalpur, Islamabad, Chianwali, Sangla Hill, Toba Tek, Sukkur, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and in many villages have been attacked by militant Muslim extremists groups killing hundreds of Christian worshipers but non of killer is arrested and brought to justice from 1998-2009. The government also failed to protect Christian institution of Murree School, Taxila Hospital, Bible Society and Justice and Peace Organization at Karachi, from attacks of extremist Muslim groups who massacred Christian social activists.
The Muslim militants Martyred Bishop John Joseph, a first and only Punjabi bishop of Catholic Church of Pakistan, dioceses of Faisalabad, but establishment forced Christian clergy tools to declare his martyrdom to be a suicide. The Pakistani Christian Congress PCC demanded to constitute an independent Tribunal to investigate killing of Bishop John Joseph but conspiracy was hatched to close his murder case. Many other pastors and evangelists have been gunned down in broad day light but killers are never arrested and brought to justice in Pakistan.
The Christian youth has been denied opportunities of professional and higher education in Pakistan which has created socio-economic disaster among poor families. The government have closed doors of employment for Christian youth in armed and civil services to force them to become laborers and accept low grade jobs of sanitary workers.
There is no Christian General in Armed Forces, no Christian Secretary in Civil services, no Christian Chairman in any of government Corporation, no Christian Inspector General of Police IG, DIG, SSP, SP, DSP and SHO in four provinces, no Christian High Commissioner, Ambassador and Counsel General in any Foreign Mission of Pakistan, no Christian Justice in any High Courts or Supreme Court of Pakistan and no Christian Director or Deputy Director in any Directorate of Pakistani government which is total denial of due share in power and resources of state to millions of Christians.
The census is never conducted fair and transparent and Christian data is manipulated to decrease representation of Christian in democratic institutions. It will be interesting to note that Christians had four seats in legislative assembly of Pakistan when house comprised of 48 legislators in 1947. There were six seats reserved for Christians in national assembly of Pakistan in constitution of 1973 of Islamic Republic of Pakistan which were reduced to four in national general elections of 1985, when house was of 232 members. In national general elections of 2002, the total house consisted of 365 but Christian seats remained four. How amazing it makes mockery of Census Division of Pakistan that population of Muslims keep on increasing but population of Christians decreasing?
His Excellency,
The Islamic laws of blasphemy, Hadood Ordinance, Article 203, law of Evidence and Compensation have been implemented on Christians which have created feelings of security and safety of life by the hands of militant or by government agencies which is clear count of constitutional genocide since 1985.
The Pakistan Peoples Party PPP government have been also failed to award equal basic democratic rights to millions of Christians like previous military regimes. The PPP led government have imposed one Christian tool as Federal Minister for Minorities and declared him head of Minority Commission. It is on record that government of Pakistan entered into an internationally recognized pact with Indian government in 1950, known as Liaquat-Nehru Pact to further safeguard the minority's rights in the neighboring states. The facts to enter in this pact were that problem of religious minorities aggravated a lot during late 1949 and early 1950. At this critical moment of the history of South Asia, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan issued statement and emphasized on the solution of the problem of minorities in the two countries. He also proposed a meeting with his Indian counter part to determine how to end the persecution. The two Prime Ministers met in Delhi on April 2, 1950 and discussed the matter in detail for six long days. On April 8, the two leaders signed an agreement, which was later given the name; Liaquat-Nehru Pact. This pact provided a bill of rights for the minorities of India and Pakistan. According to the agreement, the government of India and Pakistan solemnly agreed that each shall ensure, to the minorities throughout its territories, complete equality of citizenship, irrespective of religion; a full sense of security in respect of life, culture, property and personal honor. It also guaranteed the fundamental human rights to the minorities, such as freedom of movement, speech, occupation and worship. The pact also provided for the minorities to Participate in the public life of the country, to hold political or other office and to serve in their countries civil and armed forces. Liaquat-Nehru Pact provided for the mechanism to deal with the oppressive elements with iron hand. Both the governments decided to set up Minority Commission headed by acting Justice of higher court in their country with the aim to observe and report on the implementation of the pact.
Sir,
The government of India constituted The Minority Commission headed by Justice of Supreme Court of India, according to the referred pact and legislated according to presentations of the Muslim leaders to their personal laws and election systems but the government of Pakistan failed to constitute such effective Minority Commission headed by acting Supreme Court justice for recommendations or the presentations of the Christian leaders in Pakistan. The Indian religious minorities are enjoying due share in power and Indian Muslim have their independent Law Board to protect their personnel law while in Pakistan, the Muslim judges are issuing decrees under Islamic laws on Christian divorce and marriages. The Present PPP government following the foot steps of previous regimes have also nominated one Federal Minister for Minorities to be head of Minority Commission instead of any Justice of Supreme Court violating Liaquat-Nehro Pact.
His Excellency,
Islamic Republic of Pakistan being a member of United Nation and one of signatory member state of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights announced in UN Charter have always neglected the respect of fundamental right of the creed or language, according to Articles 9-29 of Islamic republic of Pakistan constitution of 1973. In the elections of 1971, for first time after independence, the Joint Election system was endorsed in the legal framework. During legislation of Joint Electorate system in the 1973 constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, no Christian presence was in the house while Muslim members of parliament created selection instead of election. We wish to submit that Christians never demanded Joint Election system nor were any recommendations of Minority Commission according to Liaquat Nehru Pact, as such commission never existed in Pakistan since 1950. The founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared in his Fourteen Point doctrine, the Separate Election system for minorities in Pakistan, keeping in view his meetings and discussion with the minority leaders during the Pakistan movement. The minorities enjoyed the separate election system from 1947 to 1956 by electing their own representatives for democratic institutions in Pakistan to raise their voice.
In Joint Election system, Christian vote in their respective constituencies to Muslim candidates while Muslim members of parliament select Christians tools of Muslim feudal lords and business tycoons on reserved seats which can not be termed democratic. On other hand the Dual Voting system for the Kashmiri Muslims is in operation where they vote within territory of Pakistan to elect their legislators for the legislative assembly of Azad Kashmir and also vote for national assembly of Pakistan in their respective constituencies. The Christians have demanded Dual Voting rights which have been denied and Joint Electorate has been imposed on them.
His Excellency,
In my letter to UNO offices on August, 2002, I appealed to press upon government of Pakistan not to impose Joint Election system on Christians but to constitute Minority Commission headed by Supreme Court Justice to provide an opportunity of presentations to Christian registered political parties, civil society leaders and clergy on election system of their choice. I also invited your kind attention on miseries and hardships of Christians youth, women and seniors in Pakistan who have been treated as second class citizen and deprived of their basic democratic rights.
Again, I wish to bring to your kind notice that present regime of PPP is making false promises with Christians and not sincere to solve their problems to ensure justice. The PPP government announced to reserve seats for Christians in Senate of Pakistan in elections of February 2009, but failed to fulfill promise and again there is no Christian representation in Senate of Pakistan. The Prime Minster declared 5% quota of jobs for Christians in government employment but never issued any official notification in this regard. The incidents of arrests under blasphemy, gang-rape of teen age Christian girls, forcibly conversion of Christian women and their kidnaps, desecration of Churches and victimization by police are at peak now which have forced Christians to not trust government any more when government have no respect for international treaties like Liaquat-Nehro Pact and Universal Human Rights Declaration of UNO being a signatory.
Prayer:
PCC appeal United Nations to appoint special envoy to visit Pakistan to verify persecution, victimization and genocide of Christians by hands of Muslims, Muslim militants and establishment by direct meeting with migrant Christians and victims of oppression, rape and torture instead of meeting with clergy and their umbrella civil society organizations or commissions which are continuously misleading international forums on directives of government. We also appeal your honor to award refugee status to families of victim of rape, blasphemy laws, wrongfully confined by administration, displaced Christians and Christians in general for settlement where they may enjoy peaceful life at liberty.
Thanking you.
Yours sincerely,
Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress
www.pakistanchristianpost.org
Editor, Pakistan Christian Post
www.pakistanchristianpost.com
February 25, 2009. |
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Zardari orders special helpline for minorities: Who is running Federal Minority Ministry, Shahbaz Bhatti or President of Pakistan? |
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ISLAMABAD: March 19, 2010. (APP) President Asif Ali Zardari directed Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti |
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to set up a special helpline in the ministry for victimized minorities. Speaking to the minister on Wednesday, Zardari said that the helpline should have an extension to the Presidency for emergency calls from members of the minority community subjected to violence. According to a press release, the president also inquired about progress regarding formation of inter-faith committees and the establishment of skill development centers for minorities. staff report |
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Christians have grave concern on Sharia law in Swat. Nazir Bhatti |
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Karachi: March 2, 2009. Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, Chief of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC expressed reservations of Christian on decision of PPP government to introduce Nazam-e-Idal or Kazi Courts under Islamic Sharia law in Malakand Division and Swat Val |
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Nazir Bhatti urged Christians to observe prayer day on March 15, 2009, for safety of millions of Christians in Pakistan because threat of Muslim extremists is on head.
It is very surprising that a secular party like Awamai National Party ANP which governs NWFP is implementing Islamic Sharia in Swat and Malakand division on directions of Pakistan Peoples Party PPP while Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Bacha Khan who founded ANP shall be crying in graves on such decision added Dr. Bhatti
Swat and Malakand are federal parts of Pakistan but government have decided to impose parallel judicial system in these areas of NWFP. There are already two Judicial system in Pakistan, one which is inherited by British Colonial rulers called Pakistan Penal Code PPC and other formulated by Zial-ul-Haq regime under Hadood Ordinance of Islamic laws. Now this third judicial system which will be run by Muslim clerics appointed by those to whom government was terming as terrorists and in battle with them for months called Nazam-e-Idal
Will Muslim clerics pass Islamic judgment on Christians living in Northern areas of Pakistan? Will Muslim Kazi shall dissolve Christian marriages? Will Christians shall be stoned and whipped under Islamic laws? What will be future of Christian Schools and hospitals in Swat, Malakand and Kohistan areas? Will Christian girls be allowed education and Christian women shall be bound to wear Burqa Hijjab? Will Christians be declared infidels? Will Kazi Courts force Christians to convert to Islam? Why Christians shall abide by Sharia law? These are questions which have spread wave of fear among Christians living in Northern Areas, NWFP and other parts of Pakistan.
Nazir Bhatti said There is no option for Christians to migrate from NWFP to other parts of Pakistan for safety and security of their life
Christians of NWFP are suppose to sell their properties and get ready to migrate because their faith and identity is in danger in this volatile area where government of Pakistan have lost their writ and bowed to such a Judicial system which negates justice said Nazir Bhatti
Those who think Sharia law will be kept composed only in Swat Valley, Malakand and Kohistan are living in fools paradise because it will spread soon in tribal areas and NWFP which will endanger integrity and solidarity of Pakistan said Nazir S Bhatti
In telephonic address Nazir Bhatti directed workers of PCC to contact Christian masses to aware them of danger which is heading to turn them Zimmi mean slave or second class citizen in Pakistan when blasphemy law are already hanging like sword on their necks. |
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Rape of Martha and burning of her husband Arshad Masih is worst shape of enforced conversion to Islam in Pakistan. |
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Karachi: March 22, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC have condemned Government of Punjab on not arresting |
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Muslims involved in rape of Martha Bibi and burning alive to her husband on refusing to convert to Islam in city of Rawalpindi which is under nose of capital of Pakistan.
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC in a statement issued here from Central Secretariats of PCC said that rape of a woman before her children by police officer and others is shameful act which required immediate action by Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and leaders of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group but culprits are free on streets because its rape of poor Christian woman.
Arshad Masih is fighting for life with 80% burns in Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi after his employer set him on fire on refusing to convert to Islam.
Nazir S Bhatti said Rape of Martha Bibi before her children by Muslim police officials and burning of her husband took place few miles from Building of Supreme Court of Pakistan where Muslim justices sitting on benches of justice have no sympathy with Christian victim nor it looks crime to them because according to them may be also rape of infidel women not a crime. The 20 million Pakistani Christians are tired of appealing Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chowdry to take Suo-Motto notice while he ignored rape-murder of Shazia Bashir and burning alive of Kiran George by influential Muslim employers. CJ not heard our appeals to ensure justice for Christian victims of violence by Islamic radical elements in Gojra, Korian and Bahminwala
The Punjab government have failed to protect millions of Christians when Christians vote before Boundary Commission made Punjab to be a part of Pakistan added Nazir Bhatti
I urge every Christian organization not to hoist any banner to appeal Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chowdry to take Suo-Motto notice on any incident of violence or persecution of Christians if his honorable CJ not takes notice of rape of Martha Bibi and burning of her husband on refusing to convert to Islam said Nazir Bhatti
I appeal Christians to Hoist Banners with Prayers to Jesus Christ instead of inviting SCP, Punjab government and Federal government because no one is ready to ensure justice to us in Pakistan |
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Appointment of Christian Judge is success of Christian pressure groups not achievement of Shahbaz Bhatti |
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PCP Report: The Pakistani Christians around globe feel satisfaction on appointment of Christian judge in Lahore High Court. An unknown Christian advocate who never appeared in any case of blasphemy nor |
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he was human rights activists but only known in Church clergy circles came in lime light with announcement of Justice among other 15 Muslims for Lahore High Court by Pakistan Peoples Party. His name is Samshaid Rehmatullah, Does it sounds like a Christian? Let us know more about Judge Jamshaid Rehmatullah.
Justice Rehmatullah was presiding meetings of Board of Governors of FC College Lahore before appointment as judge. He took oath of justice today on March 1, 2009, but he issued a statement on February 28, 2009, which was published in Assist News, in which he Thanked Shahbaz Bhatt, Federal Minister for Minorities for his efforts to pave way for appointment of Christian judge in high court. Judge Rehmatullah goes more further in his comments and condemns all who criticize Mr. Shahbaz Bhatt. In same statement he advised Christian advocates to work more passionately for Christian cause in Pakistan. This statement can be viewed by this dateline on www.assistnews.net
We Christians wish to bring in notice of honorable Justice Samshaid Rehmatullha that your appointment is not due to struggle of Shahbaz Bhatt but ultimate result of awareness among Christians who have courage to press upon government. Shahbaz Bhatti is simple employ and tool of Pakistan Peoples Party who demanded Christian Governorship of Punjab, Christian Seats in Senate of Pakistan, 5% Quota for Christian youth and repeal of Blasphemy laws but never included Christian Judge in his Charter of Demands issued at Minar-e-Pakistan. This demand was made by Pakistan Christian Congress PCC and other pressure groups which wanted share in judiciary of Pakistan. Up till this day Shahbaz Bhatti have failed to make Christian governor of Punjab, failed to allocate Christian seats in Senate of Pakistan, failed in issuance of notification of 5% quota and failed to repeal blasphemy laws. So, why gratitude to a Failed Minister for Minorities.
Christians also wish to bring on record that there are dozens of Christian advocates who have been fighting cases of blasphemy victims without any fee from platform of CLAAS and SLMP. Those Christian advocated are traveling to far flung areas of Pakistan to record statements of gang raped Christian teen age girls and enforced Christians women to accept Islam. Those Christian advocates are poor but they are visiting desecrated Churches by Muslims and sending reports to media and International forums. Do you think honorable Justice Rehmatullaha, you can advice them? Do you ever found any piece of article about your services to Pakistani Christians in media? No, because, your services were limited to FC College only,. Or may be with very high wages!!!
So, we request you to refrain from issuing such statement in favor of so-called politician who are tools of Muslim feudal lords. We congratulate you Mr. Justice Jamshaid Rehmatullha to be a Christian Justice of Lahore High Court but urge you to stay away from politics and serve poor nation of Pakistan by ensuring true justice. |
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Pakistan Christians woman Martha Bibi raped by Rawalpindi Police |
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Rawalpindi: March 22, 2010. (PCP report) The Pakistan Christian Post correspondent confirmed that police raped Martha Bibi while Arshad Masih died three days ago in hospital |
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I went to the Holy Family Hospital, Arshed Masih is dead, he died 3 days ago. Today was his memorial service. I talked to Martha myself, she said the police tortured her and took the false statement and then rapped her, where as the police says that Martha was in the custody of the woman police. The MS of the Holy Family Hospital has not issued her medical report wrote PCP correspondent
It further states that There was another incident, of Rashid George, he was arrested by the police and was falsely accused of theft and robbery ( looting), he was tortured by the police for 4 days, and was finally released after taking money from his family
Rashid Masih, today evening took sleeping pills and bunt himself, he committed suicide. He was taken to the Holy Family Hospital but.
The Christian religious leaders are condemning the situation and are calling for a protest in this week against the Punjab police. |
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Two Christians Charged Under Blasphemy Law in Kasur, Punjab. |
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Lahore: March 2, 2009. (SLMP report) Two Christians named Wallayat Masih son of Saraina Masih alias Sala resident of village Maloki District Kasur and Mushtaq Masih son of Sooba Masih resident of Kareem Park Bank Stop Lahore have been charged under b |
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vide case registered vide First Information Report (FIR) No. 33 dated 1st March 2009, under section 295 B & C with police station Theh Shaikham District Kasur, both have been arrested and presently detained in the local police station.
7 team members from CLAAS and SLMP visited village Maloki for fact finding today on 2nd March 2009. Mr. Joseph Francis the National Director Center for Legal Aid Assistance & Settlement (CLAAS) and Chief Coordinator Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan (SLMP) led the team
Malooki village is situated at about 30KM away from main city area Kasur. It is about 70KM away from SLMP office. The village is consisted more than 500 Muslim families while there are 50-60 Christian families. Christian are not so well of most of them serve Muslims as a field labourer some Christians do labour at brick kiln. Very few Christian are little education. There is only one small Church in the village which has no pastor to conduct prayer meeting properly. The area is very backward SLMP team keenly observed that Muslim people are very fanatic and fundamental there.
When SLMP team reached the village the Christian villagers arranged sitting for the team in the Church. It was very horrible that the Muslim clerics was announcing in the loud speaker of the mosque to the Muslims to be gathered in graveyard against Christians. SLMP team saw that the situation was very tense over there.
According to the facts collected by SLMP & CLAAS team, there was an old man named Mohari dead for about 15 years ago. He was in so called business of praying for people and to call the souls of dead. There were some followers of Mohari, Wallayat Masih is a nominal Christian. He is also one of the followers of Mohari (Late). On 1st March 2009, Wallayat Masih arranged a festival in remembrance of Mohari. He called his Muslim friends and followers of Mohari from Lahore. Mushtaq Masih resident of Lahore, also accompanied Wallayat Masih, whereas the Muslim followers of Mohari took green cloth sheets contained named of Mohari and his sons, some names of Hindu Saints and some Muslim prophets. There were some also sheets containing Quranic verses. They spread the cloth sheets on the grave of Mohari. The drum was been played in the graveyard to celebrate the event. There were about 20-25 people including Wallayat and Mushtaq celebrating the festival in remembrance of Mohari. It to pertinent to mention here that such kind of activities traditionally happens in Muslim life here in Pakistan.
When local Muslims saw the event they made objection on Wallayat Masih. They also made objection that the followers of Mohari have been spread holy sheets on a Christians grave. They accused Wallayat, Mushtaq and their Muslim friends of disgracing name of Muslims Saints. They clutched Wallayat and Mushtaq and tortured them severely. Their Muslim friends saved their skin saying that they were unaware about Moharis religions that he was Christian. They said that Wallayat and Mushtaq misguided them that Baba Mohari is from family of a famous Muslim old named Baba Bulahy Shah.
When the Muslims were beating Wallayat and Mushtaq somebody called police. Police came and rescued Wallayat and Mushtaq from the clutched of Muslims. The large number of Muslim Protestants from village Malooki and 6, 7 nearby villages put pressure on police to hand over the culprits (they wanted to kill them.) or to registered case against them. Police lodged FIR against Wallayat and Mushtaq under section 295 B and C (translation of FIR is under here).
Translation of FIR
FIR No: 33 dated 1st March 2009
Offence under Section: 295 B & C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)
Name of Complainant: Rana Anwar Khan son of Fateh Khan caste Rajppoot, resident of Maloki District Kasur
The Station House Officer (SHO)
Theh Shaikham Police Station
District Kasur
Respected Sir;
The application hereby seeks registration of case against Wallayat alias Salah son Saraina Maish resident of Maloki Police Station Theh Shaikham, and Mushtaq Masih son of Sooba Masih resident of Kareem Park Bank Stop Dera Chaudhry Mehar Bilu Lahore. Respected Sir, it is requested that today on 1st March 2009 at about 11:00am there was a festival in graveyard of Christians, the villagers wanted to participate in the festival. There some eunuchs were dancing and drum was being played. Wallayat alias Salah organized the festival. Some respectable of the village named Chaudhry Mansha son of Ali Mohammad caste Jutt resident of Maloki, Rana Akber Khan son of Fatah Mohammad caste Rajpoot, Malak Mohammad Ali son of Umer Deen resident of Maloki, Doctor Mohammad Asif son of Jhanda caste Arayeen resident of Maloki went there and saw that there were Holy Sheets containing Quranic verses, Bismillah Sharif, Qalma Tayyabah and four QUL (holy names) on them spread on the grave of a Christian named Mohari. We have been hurt by this filthy act, and this has been injured the feelings of Muslims. A Muslim present there named Mohammad Ashiq son of Umer Deen caste Malak resident of Atari Lahore told that Mushtaq son of Suba caste Christian resident of Kareem Park Bank Stop, near Dear Mehr Billo, has taken people from Lahore deceptively to attend the festival and Wallayat Masih organized that festival by saying the people that there is a Saint from Baba Bulhay Shahs family. He urged people to spread holy sheets on the grave, but when we reached here we saw this was unholy act. There were eight holy sheets spread on the grave which we have been removed. It is requested that legal action against above cited accused persons may kindly be made.
Rana Muhammad Anwar
Some Important Statement:
SLMP team interviewed some villagers and relatives of Wallayat Masih. The statements are as under.
Sakeena Bibi wife of Wallayat Masih
On asking SLMP team member Sakeena told, I got married with Wallayat Masih about 26 years ago. I had six children out of this wed lock. But unfortunately all of them died. My husband and I was much concern about our off springs. About eighteen years ago, my husband went to Baba Mohari and asked him to pray for a child. Then we got a son, we believe that we got the son with prays of Baba Mohari. My husband started following Mohari since we got son. After the death of Mohari my husband continue to visit Moharis grave. Then we also got a second child. On the day of occurrence my husband arranged a festival in remembrance of Mohari. It was first event by its nature. But unfortunately the incident took place. Muslims of the village threatened me and my children while husband is already implicated in a case and got arrested. I am afraid of my Muslim fellow villagers. They can easily attack me to kill.
Daran Bibi mother of Wallayat Masih
Daran Bibi aged about 70 years old is the mother of Wallayat Masih. When SLMP interviewed Daran Bibi she was very upset and was weeping. She told that she has six sons all of his sons go to Church and are good Christian believer except Wallayat Masih. Only he was the follower of dead Mohari. Further she told, On the day of occurrence when I came to know the Muslims are beating my son Wallayat in the graveyard, I couldnt stop myself to go there after all he is my son, I begged Muslims to forgive Wallayat. I bowed my head on their feet and asked them not to torture to leave him but all in vain. A Muslim cleric abused me kicked me off. They tortured my son severely and handed him over to the police and I couldnt do anything to save my son.
Saraina Masih father of Wallayat Masih
Saraina Masih father of Wallayat Masih is about 75 years old. He is partially deaf. SLMP team hardly talked to him and asked about the situation. He told, It has fifteen years passed Mohari has been died. We didnt see any festival or programme in his remembrance. I am ashamed of my son Wallayat wrong doings. I believe in one God and His Son. I can just pray for my son that God may change his life and his heart for Jesus Christ. I also pray that God may protect him. I am sorry for this entire tough situation my Christian fellow villagers are facing because of my son.
Saleema Bibi (the fellow villager)
Saleema bibi is about 35 years old a Christian lady. She told to SLMP team, On the day of occurrence Muslim were very aggressive. The cleric of local mosque named Muhammad Amin announced about the incident in the loud speaker of the mosque. He called all the Muslims of the village and nearby villages to be gathered against blasphemers. That was terrible. We all were afraid of aggressive Muslims. I along with some of other Christian villagers came into the Church and saved Holy Bibles and furniture of Church because Muslims were planning to set Church on fire. I made phone calls to some Christian elders in Kasur and Lahore to help us out. I am very thankful to you for being here to support us. I hope God will help us with His powerful hands.
Superintendent of Police visits place of occurrence
Today Superintendent of Police visited the place of occurrence. SLMP team also went there. There were hundreds were Muslims were gathered there. Muslims were raising slogans. They were asking severe legal action against Wallayat and Mushtaq. Some of them were asking to kill both Christians. The police officer (SP) assured SLMP team that he will investigate the matter on merits. Muslim clerics were very aggressive. SLMP team observe the tense situation in the village because Muslim villagers were threatening Christians openly even in the presence of police officials.
Legal Situation of the case
According to the law, the FIR does not fall under section 295 B & C of Pakistan Penal Code, because there are not any direct derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad. Section 295-C falls when someone passes derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad and there is death sentence of this section. Police do not investigate the matter and just lodged the FIR due to pressure of Muslim villagers. We hope the case will be blown in law court, when it will be presented for trial.
Remarks
This blasphemy case has been registered without any investigation. Mr. Sohail Johnson, Chief Coordinator of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, condemns the illegality and implication of Wallayat Masih and Mushtaq Masih. He also urged Christian brothers and sisters to pray for the protection of Christian villager of Malooki. It also desperate needs to pray for Wallayat and Mushtaq that God may change their lives. They may come to God and realize His compassionate love to them. They may know that Jesus Christ is life; He is the light and way. |
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Pakistani Christians only TV station in financial crisis: Rise up for support: |
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Philadelphia: March 24, 2010. (PCP) Glory TV commissioned from UK is serving millions of Christian around globe |
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with presenting life giving Word of Lord and praising Hymns. Glory TV have built bridges among different denominations and small House Churches groups in plains and hills where ever Urdu and Hindi language is read and spoken. Glory TV is not a business concern nor administered by any funding agency but token of struggle by Lord loving couple who initiated this Media Ministry to preach Holy Bible in West where families need it more under present circumstances.
The nations survive with their media which revives faith and covers voice to announce that nation is still alive not dead. We may not agree with agenda of any media but its presence leads to hope which is first step to survival.
Here in USA friends are calling each other and appealing to contribute for Glory TV as it is suffering financial crisis. I have no contact with valuable couple who runs Glory TV but such news have really made me sad.
We must remember: Mohammad Ali Jinnah advised Muslims during Pakistan Movement to commission Newspapers. He said Pen is more powerful than Sword
Its era of Electronic Media and we have only one independent Television Station named Glory TV for us who speak Urdu and Hindi.
Let us unite and safe our only electronic media outlet Glory TV based in UK and run by a couple who put their every penny for service to Lord.
I will appeal every friend on Facebook to call Glory TV and send contributions to them. Our dollar can make difference!!!! let us learn lesson from Muslim Diaspora in West that how they are supporting their newspapers and TV stations.
http://www.live.glorytv.co.uk/?page_id=137
Click on this link to reach Glory TV to send your contribution.:
I, Nazir S Bhatti, a viewer of Glory TV, appeal to my friends to send your contributions and donation to Glory TV to keep it on satellite. You also, Do not hesitate, Join me and appeal to your friends to support Glory TV. |
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Muslim mob attacks Christian worshipers killing one woman and injuring 28. |
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Gujranwala, Pakistan: March 3, 2009. (SLMP reports for PCP) The Christian Mass services were in progressing with dedication of worshipers in a Presbyterian Church in remote town of Aroop in Gujranwala district of Punjab province of Pakistan when a |
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It was 8.00 PM of March 2, 2009, the silence of village like town of Mangowala Aroop was broken by bursts of guns and Christian worshipers were falling with bullet injuries on Church floor to protecting their Church pastor The news of attack on Church broke out in village Aroop and other nearby villages on which Christian rushed to Presbyterian Church where blood was all over Church floor and cries of injured Christians.
The injured were rushed for medical care but a Christian woman worshiper named Shakeela died on spot.
A Christian social activist called Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan SLMP with its headquarters in Lahore and a team was dispatched to help injured and on fact finding mission.
According to the facts collected by Sharing Life Ministry Pakistans District Coordinator Gujranwala, some arguments arose between Christian and Muslim about a week ago at village Mangowala Aroop Police Station. To take revenge from Christians the village Muslims named Amjad, Balal, Zeeshan Azam and others decided to teach lesson and equipped with deadly arm weapons attacked on Presbyterian Church Gujranwala on 2nd March 2009. They opened fires at Christian mass A Christian lady named Shakeela received firearm injuries and got expired, whereas about 28 Christians are injured.
Police is denying legal action against the culprits, while funeral of Shakeela did not take place yet, it needs legal action against murder of Shakeela, and postmortem of dead body should be conducted for trial.
Christians of the area are going to stage a procession today on 3rd March 2009; they will demand justice and protection.
Mr. Sohail Johnson Chief Coordinator Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan condemned this brutal attack on Christians of Gujranwala.. He asked all friends and prayer partners to pray for Christians of Pakistan as situation is worsening day by day. Christians are in target of Muslim fundamentals, Muslim groups do not bear Christians in this country. They want this state to be an Islamic country with Islamic laws. |
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Speak Up message by Rev. Canon Patrick Augustine D Min, Rector on Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010, at Christ Episcopal Church, La Crosse, Wisconsin |
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Luke 19: 28-40, Isaiah 50: 4-9a, Philippians 2: 5-11, Luke 22: 14-23-56
Speak Up |
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I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out (Luke 19:40)
Some years ago, I remember being told of a group of pilgrims to the Holy Land, who had been shown a holy stone. What is it? they asked. That, said their guide, is the stone that did not cry out when Jesus entered Jerusalem. There are limits to credulity, of course, even in the world of Christian tourism. But perhaps something here can help us to reflect on todays Gospel reading.
St. Lukes account of the entry into Jerusalem is interesting because of what it does not include. There is no reference to palm branches, nor does he use the word Hosanna, a specifically Hebrew reference. Luke appears to adapt the quotation from Psalm 118.26: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Taken as a single verse, it was a standard greeting to any pilgrim going to the Temple in Jerusalem.[1]
St. Lukes words here direct us elsewhere in the psalm from which the crowds quote as Jesus enters Jerusalem:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lords doing, it is marvelous in our eyes. . . Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! (Psalm 118.22-23, 25)
For Christians, this is a foundational text in the understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We know stones do not cry out. I wonder what Jesus meant when he said that if the disciples should remain silent, the very stones would cry out. One thing is clear, that Jesus at that moment was riding down that mountain into the city of Jerusalem. It was an historic day when prophecies of the Old Testament were being fulfilled. People of Israel had waited for a long time for this moment.
For example, the Prophet Zechariah had foretold that Israel would see their King coming to them:
Rejoice, greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant
and victorious is he, humble and riding
on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
This was an hour for Zechariah, Isaiah, Daniel and the prophets who looked and which they longed to see. Jesus is telling his disciples if you remain silent to acknowledge this moment then the stones would shout out to proclaim to these great truths and to help the world to see Gods mighty acts of salvation and redemption and understand what God is doing.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the stones did not cry out because the people who greeted him did. They spoke the truth and shouted from the mountain tops:
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
This is a week which literally changed the world. Jesus enters into Jerusalem as king, Priest and Messiah. He goes to the Temple and restores the sanctity of the House of God. He drives out those who had made it a place of trade to get rich and declared:
My house shall be called a house of prayer;
But you are making it a den of robbers. (Matthew 22:13)
He washes the feet of his disciples and teaches them by personal example:
So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also
ought to wash one anothers feet. (John 13: 14)
I give you a new commandment that, you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another.
(John 13: 34)
We are a community of Jesus not to Lord over each other but to serve and love in Jesus name.
Jesus on Maundy Thursday sits with his disciples and eats the Passover meal. He takes the bread and gives it to his disciples and says:
This is my body, which is given for you. Do this remembrance
of me. This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant
in my blood. (Luke 22: 19-20)
Then on Friday we see the Lamb of God hung on the cross as the Holy Scriptures proclaim:
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.
(1 Cor. 15:3)
It is this truth about Christ crucified that needs to be declared to the world without shame and hesitation. Archbishop Carey says, In our Western Church we have lost the dimension of radical discipleship to identify with Christ in the suffering and pain of humanity. We have replaced it with a following of Jesus which is virtually cost-less. Indeed, some evangelists are guilty of going to other extreme of offering the carrot that if you accept Jesus, he will solve your problems, help you find a good job, husband, wife, peace, contentment. The motive behind this may be admirable but the result is a filleted Christianity, with sacrifice removed.
To proclaim Christ Crucified is not a fancy fashionable statement. It is risky, demanding and sometimes dangerous business. Your life and my life are ultimately built on faith that goes beyond mere belief in the prosperity theology. It is a faith which reaches out to touch with the healing hands of the Crucified Lord for those dying in the gutters of Calcutta, for the persecuted communities of Christians in Pakistan, Sudan and Iran. The 14th century theologian Thomas a Kempis said, Jesus has now many lovers of his heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of his Cross. Will you be one of the bearers of the Cross and walk with Jesus on the road to Golgotha this week? Would you stand at the foot of the cross and look at our crucified Lord and testify to the world like the Roman centurion:
Truly this man was the Son of God (Mark 15: 39 b).
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the stones did not cry out because the people who greeted him did. They spoke the truth. If the stones bricks, concrete, iron, and glass of our buildings are to speak, yours is the voice they need to do it. This Holy Week we, all of us, have a duty to let people know that we are celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, because we believe that in these momentous events lie the meaning of our lives and dignity.[2]
It is a must message. It is a potent message with great good news that, in Christ, humanity is delivered from the gloom of sin, and is restored to grace and holiness of life. He has broken the bonds of death and hell and has risen victorious over the grave. Jesus says that if you fail to tell this story:
The stones will cry out. |
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ICC Calls for Investigation of Violence against Christians In Bauchi, Nigeria |
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WASHINGTON, D.C: March 5, 2009. International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Islamic extremists in northern Nigeria gunned down Christians and set fire to their homes and churches during a three-day rampage in which 11 people were killed an |
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According to Nigerian news source, the Guardian, the violence against the Christians in the city of Bauchi started on February 20, 2009, following a disagreement between two factions of an Islamic sect known as Izala.
The factions had agreed to hold prayer at the mosque at different times. When one of the factions breached the agreement by continuing their prayer service beyond the time allotted them, the members of the other faction parked their cars in the parking lot of a nearby church. When members of the church asked the Muslims not to utilize the church's parking, the faction responded by burning the church to the ground.
Following the church's destruction, unidentified individuals burnt down a mosque. Though their claims were unverifiable, Muslim extremists accused Christians of the arson and began indiscriminately attacking Christians in the city.
"The security agencies and Bauchi State government have failed us. We are at the mercy of the Muslims, we are not safe, and there is no security for us here in Bauchi," stated Bishop Musa Tula in a statement quoted by the Nigerian Tribune. Bishop Tula is Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bauchi State chapter.
The Bishop added that, "If they want us to go and live in the bush, let them show us the place. We are living in perpetual fear and the Federal Government must do something urgent for the sake of peace in the country."
Muslims are the majority in northern Nigeria, and Christian minorities in the region are routinely attacked by Islamic extremists. In most cases, the extremists carry out large scale and violent attacks which are largely ignored by Muslim officials who do not take enough measures to safeguard the safety of Christians.
ICC's Regional Manger for Africa, Jonathan Racho, stated, "Nigerian officials have repeatedly failed their obligations to protect Christian minorities from savage attacks by Muslim extremists in the northern part of the country. We call upon the Nigerian government to establish an independent commission to investigate the attacks in Bauchi and bring the perpetrators to justice."
Please pray for Christians in northern Nigeria. Pray for their safety and protection against persecution. Also pray that the Muslims that persecute them will come to know the love of Jesus Christ. |
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Land cruiser, guesthouse allegations uncalled for: Bhatti |
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LAHORE: March 30, 2010. (The News report) Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti said Tuesday that allegations leveled against him by Aukaf Chairman Asif Hashmi |
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regarding demand of land cruiser and guesthouse were unfounded.
I could only pray for the Aukaf chairman, he said.
Speaking to Geo, the minority minister said that he had warned Hashmi against violations of rules and regulation, which he did not like.
Now the Aukaf chairman has announced to submit resign on April 20, added Shahbaz.
To a question, the federal minister said that a delay in release of funds for Guru Nanak University was procedural and he had no connection in this regard. |
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Muslims attack on Church in Gujranwala: |
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One Christian woman named Shakeela killed and 28 worshipers injured when Muslim mob attacks Sangowali Aroop Presbyterian Church with firearms. Sagowali is village with 45 Christian and 200 Muslim families in Gujranwala District. |
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Gujranwala: March 5, 2009. On 2nd March 2009, A Muslim group attacked on Christians at Sangowali Aroop Village District Gujranwala. The attackers were armed with weapons and wooden rods. A Christian lady named Shakeela aged 35 years died with critical injuries while 28 got injured; three of them are still hospitalized. The attackers also opened fires on local church.
SLMP team consisting five members named Mr. Sohail Johnson Chief Coordinaor SLMP, Shahzad Kamran Field Officer, Pastor Phillip Dutt Coordinator SLMP unit Gujranwala, Mr. Zahid Daniel volunteer and Samuel Ahsan volunteer visited the place of occurrence at Sangowali village Gujranwala. Mr. Sohail Johnson led the team. SLMP team met with Shakeelas family and expressed sorrowful feelings to them on death of Shakeela. SLMP team also met with injured Christians and interviewed them. SLMP team visited the church and saw spots of firing on church walls.
The village Sangowalli is not an establish area, 45 Christian families are living there among perhaps more than 200 Muslim families. There is only one church of United Presbyterian denomination.
Brief Facts of the Occurrence
According to the facts collected by SLMP team, a Christian young boy named as Imran son of Moras Masih used to work at CDs shop. On 25th February 2009, in the evening, he was coming back from duty. When he was on the way, some Muslim guys named as Waseem Butt, Zeeshan Butt, Shaheen and others stopped him in the way, they snatched his cell phone and tried to take him in a dark room. According to Imran Masih the culprits attempted to sodomize him, but he escaped. Imran reached home and told to his family about the incident. His uncle, with assistance of some Christian elders, moved an application against the culprits. After few days a lady died in Muslims guys family, so Christians did not pursue the application. In the mean time police called Waseem etc to record there version. Waseem and others became aggressive that Christians have moved application for legal action against them. They misinformed police that their patch up with Imran etc is going to be done so that police may stop legal action.
On 2nd March 2009, to fulfill their grudge Waseem Butt, Zeeshan Butt, Shaheen and other attacked Christians. They trespassed on Christians houses and tortured them ruthlessly. They also opened fires on Church building.
A Christian lady named Shakeela got severe injuries and could not survived, she got expired while 17 Christians got injured, 3 of them are still hospitalized.
Criminal case has been registered the culprits vide First Information Report (FIR) No. 87 offence under section 302/452, 337FI/337L2, 337AI/148, 149 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) with Police Station Aroop Gujranwala.
Detail of Victims of Attack
Sr. # Name Age occupation Injury
Got Expired
1. Shakeela wife of Mazoor 35 Years Housewife Head Injuries
Discharged from Hospital
2. Dilawer son of Sadiq 22 Years Labor Head Injury
3. Asif son of Baga Masih 19 Years Labor Head Injury
4. Azmat s/o Iqbal Real Brothers 19 Years Labor Injury on Nose
5. Tariq s/o Iqbal 18 Years Labor Injury on Right Arm & Face
6. Sajid son of George 20 Years Labor Head Injury
7. Baber son of Sadeeq 20 Years Student of 10th Class Head Injury
8. Imran son of Moras 20 Years Labor Injury on Forehead
Still in Hospital
9. Iqbal son of Manga Masih 48 Years Labor Head Injury
10 Naziran widow of Sardar 80 Years Housewife Injury on Head & Backbone
11. Basharat son of Iqbal 25 Years Labor Head Injury
Note: There were some more Christians got slight injuries and were discharged after first aid.
Introduction of Shakeelas (deceased) family.
Shakeela was mother of two daughters and a son. Her husband Manzoor Masih, 45, (complainant of the case) is government employee. The eldest daughter Rafaila is about 18 years old. She has left school after her matriculation and remained free at home. Another daughter named as Shumaila is 17 years and of second year student of Facility of Arts, the youngest one is Sharoon (son). He is student of 10th class.
Family is well reputed in the area for their church activities. People of the area told that this is very humble and God fearing family in the village.
Statements of Shakeelas (deceased) family members;
Rafaila (Daughter)
SLMP team asked eldest daughter of Shakeela named Rafaila, about the occurrence. She told, One the day of occurrence we were at home, all of sudden, Muslim men attacked. That was an abrupt attack, the doors burst open and Muslim men carrying weapons and wooden rods rushed in. One of the attackers named Shaheen hit my mother repeatedly with weapon on her head which caused her casualty. My mother fell on ground. I hold her in my arms; she died in my arms Rafaila was shedding tears while she gave her statement. She further told, We also phoned to emergency rescue team on 1122, but they could not reach us because of heavy firing by Muslim illegal group.
Sharoon (Son)
Sharoon was very upset and weeping continuously during SLMPs stay at deceaseds home. He said, We dont want to live here in this village, they (Muslim group) are still threatening my father. I do not forget the death of mother, she died helplessly. SLMP team members consoled him showed him love and care. SLMP team did not ask him further question because he was very downhearted.
Manzoor (Husband)
SLMP team interviewed Manzoor Masih who said, Death of my wife is an irreparable loss to me and my children. I am concerned that Muslims are very strong here, we are poor, and we can not afford enmity with them. They will kill us too.
Shakeelas younger daughter Shumaila was also weeping badly, SLMP team could not interview her.
A Christian young lady from neighborhood named Sana told that Muslim group was beating Christian females ruthlessly. When they tortured Shakeela, she fell down on the ground with severe injuries, and the attackers insultingly said that Shakeela was pretending of be died.
According to the SLMP teams facts, police came to the spot after about 30 minutes. The Muslim group has been beating Christians meanwhile. When police came, the attackers fled away, and police rescued the injured persons to the Civil Hospital Gujranwala. Civil Hospital produced first aid to the injured persons, but Shakeela was referred to Lahore due to her critical condition.
Chief Coordinator Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan Mr. Sohail Johnson expressed his sorrowful feelings on this incident. He encouraged family of Shakeela and rest of injured persons to be strong. He said that entire Christians of the area should stand with Manzoor Masih to fight his legal case in the court. He said that they should share their sources with Manzoor. He condemned fear of the family. He assured SLMPs ever possible help to pursue the lawsuit. He said that CLAAS will provide legal help to Manzoor and he is not alone in this worst situation.
Meeting with Station House Officer police Station Aroop
After meetings with the injured Christians of the village and Shakeelas family members, SLMP team along with Manzoor Masih and some Christian villagers, went to Police Station Aroop and met with S.H.O named Mohammad Riaz. He is Investigation Officer (I.O) of the case. He told that he has transferred from Karachi and has taken charge of Police Station Aroop just four days ago. He is very new to the area. On asking SLMP team member, he told, I reached the place of occurrence within 25 minutes, that was very shocking to me that the culprits trespassed on Christians houses and tortured females of the family. I rescued to all the injured persons to the hospital. He also told that police has arrested one of the main accused persons nominated in FIR. He treated SLMP team politely. He said that his all sympathies are with victim families. He promised that he will provide every possible help to Manzoor. He also assured that Police will not demand even a single penny Manzoor or complainant party.
An Important Concern
An impotent concerned has been discussed with I.O that the opponent party has left an very old women who is sick and about to die, at adjoined house of Manzoor etc. It is expected that they want to make a cross murder case, in case the old women dies. SLMP team member made a draft of application in which the fact has been given. Application has been moved at the spot. I.O said that he will discuss the mater with Deputy Inspector and find out the way according to the law.
SLMP team requested SHO to allow the team to meet accused person arrested. Two of team members saw Waseem in the lock up, SHO was with team members, he did not allow team members to talk with the accused.
Visit to Civil Hospital Gujranwala
SLMP team visited Civil Hospital Gujranwala and met with three injured persons of the incident. Team also interviewed the doctor treating the injured persons.
Iqbal Masih son of Manga Masih is about 45 years old, married with 3 sons and 1 daughter. He is admitted in Neuro Surgical Ward No. 1. He has head injury.
Basharat is about 32 years old. He is admitted in Surgical Ward No. 8. He also has head injury.
Naziran Bibi is about 80 years old; she is mother in law of Shakeela (deceased). She has injuries on her head and back. She is admitted in Female Nuero Ward No. 2. She was feeling severe pain. SLMP team prayed for injured persons and assured them of every possible help. Mr. Sohail Johnson said them not to lose their hearts and be strong.
Meeting with Doctor
SLMP team met with Doctor named as Dr. Mateen. He told that he received Iqbal etc on very first day and is treating them since that time. He told that first 12 hours were very critical for Naziran Bibi, Iqbal and Basharat, but now they are stable. He hopes that all will be recovered soon.
On asking SLMP team, he said that Hospital is providing all medicine to the patients except few of tablets which are not available in the hospital. He told that Naziran will take long time to be recovered completely because she is too old. He expressed his sympathies for Naziran Bibi.
Legal Position of the Case
SLMP team asked to Samson Joseph Advocate CLAAS Lawyer in Gujranwala, about the legal position of the case. He will fight the case in law court on behalf of Manzoor etc. Samson Joseph told that he is satisfied with the health of First Information Report, but there is am important legal point we have to be work out on. He said that statements of injured persons and the complainant (Manzoor) are very important. Police did not record their statements yet, which should have been recorded until now. He offered Manzoor and others to give him time and he will help them how to record their statements.
Remarks
SLMP observed a pressure on Shakeelas family because Muslims are strong there and in majority, but team also observed that Christians of the area are very supportive to Manzoor. The injured persons are stable now, those who are still in hospital they will be recovered soon by the grace of God. Police seems to be cooperative with Manzoor but there is no guarantee if it will remain same in future.
Mr. Sohail Johnson condemned this incident and expressed his feelings saying that we should our persecuted church at any cost. He said that he is disappointed that no Church leader or Christian political leader visit Manzoor and his children to console them. He urge Church to pray for this oppressed family and all the injured in this incident. |
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Pakistani Christians demand to repeal blasphemy law and voting rights neglected in proposed 18th Amendment |
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Philadelphia, USA: April 2, 2010. (PCP) Dr. Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC said that Muslims parties have again stabbed at back of 20 million Pakistani Christians |
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by not repealing Blasphemy Law and awarding Dual Voting rights in proposed 18th amendment in constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The Constitutional Reform Committee comprising of parliamentarians of Pakistan Peoples Party PPP. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PML(N), Pakistan Muslim League Quaid PML(Q), Muthida Qaumi Movement MQM, Awami National Party ANP, Jiamiat Ulma-e-Islam JUI(F), Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao PPP(S) and others presented the draft legislation in reform of Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan here today.
According to sources close to PCP, it was learnt that Constitutional Reform Committee members agreed to amend Artcle 52-B which empowers President of Pakistan to dissolve Parliament and nominate Chief of Staff of Armed Forces of Pakistan, Renaming of NWFP, Article 6 shall be made more forceful, Governors shall be appointed from same provinces and Senate seats shall be 104 instead of 100. The four seats shall be allocated for minorities from four provinces.
There was no representation to minorities in Constitutional Reform Committee but Chairman of Standing Committee told media that minority parliamentarians were consulted and their recommendations were given due consideration.
The 20 million Pakistani Christians have demanded on every forum to repeal blasphemy law and direct voting right to elect their parliamentarians by their votes but both demands were neglected by Constitutional Reform Committee.
Nazir Bhatti said The long list of amendments proposed and passed by Reform Committee fall short to Christians demands
Senator Raza Rabbani, Chairman of Constitutional Reform Committee statement that minorities were consulted need clarification that weather Shahbaz Bhatti, Federal Minister for Minorities submitted revision in blasphemy law to committee as he is claiming since 2009 or not said Nazir Bhatti
Dr. Bhatti said that allocation of 4 seats in Senate of Pakistan under Joint Electorate which empowers Muslim political parties to nominate and select their favorites from minorities shall be only benefit to Muslims groups who shall add these senators to their numbers in Senate of Pakistan.
Muslim political groups have neglected Christian demands which is not good sign for democracy in Pakistan because safeguard of minority rights is first step to democratic system added Nazir Bhatti
Pakistan Christian Congress PCC demands to repeal blasphemy law and right to elect Christian representation in democratic institution and urges Christian members of National Assembly to raise their voice in house during debate on 18th amendment for legislation. |
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Palestinian prisoners hope pope will press their case |
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Bethlehem : March 6, 2009. Palestinian political prisoners called on Pope Benedict XVI to press for their release during his visit to Israel in May. |
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In a statement smuggled from Israels Negev (Naqab) desert prison camp and released to the public on Friday, the prisoners said, We appeal Pope Benedict XVI to intervene to resolve our case and end our suffering.
The prisoners said they welcomed the visit, and also called on the Catholic clergy to raise this issue of Palestinian prisoners with "His Holiness."
Benedict plans to visit Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel during a four day visit. It will be the first Papal trip to the Holy Land since John Paul II came in 2000.
There are more than 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, many of them elderly and sick. Hundreds are charged in connection with attacks on Israelis.
Last month indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a prisoner swap broke down. Israel had demanded the issue be included in truce talks and requested the release of Gilad Shalit in exchange for the opening of Gaza crossings. |
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10 Armed Muslim men and women attack Chapel after Good Friday services in Pakistan |
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Rawalpindi: April 3, 2010. (XAvier William report for PCP) Five Muslim men and 5 Muslim women in Burqas (Veils) equipped with Kalashnikov rifles and Pistols attacked Chapel in vicinity of Gordon College after Good Friday Services on April 2, 2010, |
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and desecrated Holy Bibles and vandalized Chapel. They fire shots on Church windows and damaged every thing which they found in Chapel.
The armed group of Muslim men and Burqa covered women entered in Chapel at 7:45 PM and took control of Chapel, after taking over Church they moved to residential compound and started yelling on Christian children and women and took them as hostages.
According to PCP sources this Chapel is a property of the Evacuee Trust Properties which was closed from past many years. The Robinson Community Development Ministry RCDM took this property through the Gordon College for the Ministry purposes.
The Evacuee Trust Properties are maintained and managed by Federal Ministry of Minorities and being in vicinity of previously missionary College named Gordon College and after nationalization of missionary school and colleges by government of Pakistan in 1971, named as Government Gordon College have sizeable Christian residential facilities in neighborhood.
According to the sources a group armed with automatic weapons broke into the Church compound and broke the locks and entered the Church and the adjoining residence area in the Church compound. They put up new locks to the main entrance and the Church door. They also threw away the RCDM board which was at the gate.
They threw the Bibles on the floor and started throwing things around. They also entered the residential area and started yelling at the women and Children at home, they started looting the house at gun point, they harassed the women and children and took all the cash and jewelry.
One of the women at home called his brother Shaban Gill, who informed the police and Rescue Team. Imran Nasir another resident was also informed about the situation, his daughters 4 years old and 18 months were taken hostages along with his wife.
Shaban and Imran reached and saw that 3 gunmen are on the walls of the compound, they tried to climb in through the wall but armed gunman opened direct fire at Shaban who managed to save himself. In the mean time the police arrived at the scene.
The Chairman of RCDM Mr. Robinson Asghar arrived at the scene with his team. MNA (Member of National Assembly ) Malik Shakeel Awan`s office is located opposite to the chapel, the workers at the office tried to help the police.
The Police broke the gate and made a forced entry into the Church compound along with the women police and succeeded in arresting 5 men and 4 women and took control of the situation. The police also recovered automatic weapons along with bullets. A large number of the Christian community rushed to the scene, they supported the Punjab Police.
The Staion House Officer SHO Israr Ahmed Satti of the City Police Station, Raja Bazar arrived at the scene and took the arrested men and women to the police station. The SHO Police ordered 4 armed policemen to guard the Church Compound.
The police investigated and revealed that the arrested men are, Mushtaq Ahmed, Amjad Zaman Cheema
Dildar Hussain, Muhammad Anwer and Saqib Ali.
The Muslim women in Burqa in police custody were named as Nusrat Bibi, Shahnaz Bibi, Sadia bibi, Irum Bibi and Fatima Bibi
The arrested are in the lockup, the Christian community was trying to give an application against the arrested for attacking the Church, disrespecting the sanctity of the Church, looting, taking hostage, harassing the women and children and firing. Prof. Salamat Akhtar, Mehboob Alam, Ephlal Ministry, Life for All, PAkistan Christian Congress PCC, Faith Force Ministries, RCDM, CPM and others started protesting for the FIR ( First Information Report).
Brig (r) Simon Samson Sharaf also arrived at the police station and assisted Mr. Asghar in getting the FIR ( First Information Report) registered against the arrested. The copies of the FIR were given to the leaders. At around 3:30am it was noticed that the armed policemen which had been ordered to guard the Chapel, were not present on duty. |
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Widows and Orphan Girls Celebrate the Womens Day with Milap Organization Pakistan |
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Lahore : March 09, 2009. (Margaret Piara reports for PCP) : I got married and I had 3 daughters only and no son. For that reason my mother-in-law said that I am not good for them. These were the words of Mrs. Jamila Nasir |
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during the program organized by Milap Organization on the 8th March at St. Johns Church, Mianmir Colony, Lahore Cantt. She continued, My mother-in-law said that they will get their son married once again. I had to come back to my parents home with my 3 small daughters.
Mrs. Jamila Nasir enthusiastically said, I was determined to get my daughters highly educated and now one of my daughters is working in the bank, and two are professors. Mr. Nasir re-married and had five daughters again from the other wife. He started taking drugs and he died recently. Now the mother in-law is coming to the 3 grand daughters but they dont accept her as their grand mother. She ended sadly, Its really sad to note what harm a woman could do to another woman.
Mrs. Martha Sadiq, the Gen. Sectary of Milap Org. said, I am a widow of I boy and two girls. When my husband died my children were studying not only that but they were too young. So I had little education but I made use of that and started giving tuition to the little children of the locality. I didnt sit and stop there that life has been ended there.
Mrs. Martha told the 45 widows, orphans and other women and girls that now her eldest daughter is teaching in a regular school and her son is the assistant manager on the subway in the city while the youngest daughter is still studying.. She stressed that the girls education is very important for their better future.
Mrs. Nasreen Pervaz said, My husband is taking drugs. I just do the domestic job of cleaning and washing. I am the one who earns and I am the one who gets good beating from my husband as well. Sometime I feel like leaving the husband and just go away but then I think of my five kids what will they do without me. She lamented that the life of the woman of yesterday is not much different form today. She said she does not know when the life of a woman will be changed and she could enjoy the respect of a real human being.
Mrs. Shazia Lazarous was the chair person of this program. She said that we should thank the Lord that at least this day is celebrated World wide. Where we could see that this day is giving us a bit of importance. Even though that only the woman has this privilege to be a mother, daughter, sister. But still in some places in the World the mother, daughter and sister is just on .
A school teacher, Sonia Sadiq said, I am an orphan. My father died when I was very young at age. I have 1 brother and another sister. After the death of my father we had gone through lots of hardships but thank God we didnt leave the education aside but we kept going. We had to bear a lot of problems from neighbors as well who would criticize why do we wear good clothes and make up. But I would say that if you start to generate money and then the family will have no problem.
Mrs. Shazia Lazar the wife of the local church of Pakistan Pastor was the chair person of this program. She said, We should thank the Lord that at least this day is celebrated World wide.. Where we could see that this day is giving us a bit of importance. Even though that only the woman has this privilege to be a mother, daughter, sister. But still in some places in the World the mother, daughter and sister is not given proper respect and honour.
Milap director Margaret Piara said, Why do we have to celebrate this day once a year. We should have it everyday celebration. I would say that every woman should be educated now a days. The Government should have the education of a woman compulsory till matriculation at least, plus some skill. I would say that if a woman is educated the whole nation is educated but if a man is educated he will rotate his education only within a small number of people. So if the woman in the family takes any sort of step to do something the family should support otherwise she wont be able to achieve her goal. So let not the man made mentality rule us at all the time. Once again I would say that education is important part in women life.
The Milap Organization is working for widows, orphans and disabled from February, 2004. It conducts regular programs on Easter and Christmas when the eatables are distributed and the disabled are helped with the tricycles with the local funds. It has also helped the poor sick people in medicines and running three sewing centers for the poor women and girls. It also conducts awareness programs on international days.
Pastor Hadayat Lazar said the opening and last prayers. |
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Pope greets pilgrims at retreat near Rome |
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CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy: April 5, 2010. (AP) Pope Benedict XVI urged priests on Monday to be messengers of a love that conquers evil and said Christ supports the church at times of difficulty |
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Speaking from his papal retreat near Rome, Benedict did not directly address the clerical sex abuse scandal that is rocking the Catholic Church.
But he said all Christians should be like angels messengers of Christ's "victory over evil and death, the bearers of his divine love." Benedict said this was especially true for priests.
The pontiff is coming off a busy Easter week clouded by accusations that the Vatican, and he personally, have failed to protect children from abusive priests.
The scandal has inched closer to Benedict, with cases dating to his tenure as archbishop of Munich in his native Germany and when he was charge of the Vatican's office dealing with clerical sex abuse cases.
Victims want him to shoulder some responsibility for a common practice by bishops in the past of shuffling pedophile priests from parish to parish rather than sullying the church's reputation by defrocking clergy who raped or sexually abused minors.
Benedict has not publicly discussed the accusations, but the Vatican has denounced what it calls a smear campaign against the pope and his advisers and has defended the pontiff's response.
At the Easter Sunday Mass, a senior cardinal defended Benedict from the accusations, which he called "petty gossip." Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, hailed Benedict for "unfailing" leadership and courage.
After the Easter Sunday ceremonies, Benedict, 82, went to the Castel Gandolfo retreat south of Rome for a period of rest.
Pilgrims applauded and cheered as he greeted them in several languages and wished them a Happy Easter. Speaking in Spanish, the pope said Christ "accompanies the church on its path and supports its amid difficulties." |
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Does Sin Matters? Sermon by Rev. Canon Dr. Patrick P Augustine on Second Sunday in Lent, March 8, 2009, at Christ Episcopal Church, La Crosse, Wisconsin |
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It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for justification. Romans 4: 13-25 |
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If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take their cross and follow me.Mk:8:31-38
Does Sin Matters?
In the gospel reading today we hear the call from Jesus that if we want to be his disciple then to take up our cross and to follow him. In the appointed epistle St. Paul writes to the church in Rome about Jesus, Who was handed over to death (hung on the cross) for our trespasses (sins). On the cross of Jesus there is cure from the toxic impact of sin on human soul and whole of creation. Paradoxically, the doctrine of sin can be seen as the negative presupposition of the whole of Christian faith and theology. At the same it is hard to avoid the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with the world. According to Christianity our biggest problem is sin. Yet, the concept of sin is offensive or ludicrous to many. Many have the impression that the Christian doctrine of sin is bleak and pessimistic about human nature.# The truth is when it is properly understood in the light of the scripture, it can be a great resource for human hope.
What is sin then? Sin is primarily a religious and theological term and not a moral term. Sinning is not breaking the moral law, but rather breaking the relationship with God. In the Old Testament there is no special word which explains the concept of sin, although there are three words in particular which are important to consider:
Hattat, which means to miss the mark or to go astray, and describes the sinner as one who strays from the right pathway and is lost. We can appreciate that this word picture would have been most vivid for a rural community: We all, like sheep, have gone astray. (Isa. 53:6).
Awon, meaning to leave the right path, suggest that the offender does so deliberately, quite aware that this choice goes against his conscience.
Pesha, often translated rebellion, should not be understood in the political sense but rather as the breakdown of the relationship between a loving parent and child. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight. (Ps. 51: 4)#
In St. Pauls teaching the word sin occurs sixty times in his letters and was therefore a dominating idea in his teachings. The New Testament uses five main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active.
The commonest is hamartia, which depicts sin as a missing of the target, the failure to attain a goal.
Adikia is unrighteousness or iniquity
Poneria is evil of a vicious or degenerate kind. Both of these terms
Seem to speak of an inward corruption or perversion of character.
Parabasis or Paraptoma, a trespass or transgression, the stepping over a known boundary.
Anomia, lawlessness, the disregard or violation of a known law.
Jesus, himself, explained sin is a breach of the first commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22: 37). It is not just by failing to love God with all our being, but by actively refusing to acknowledge and obey him as our Creator and Lord. It is an act of hostility to put ourselves in his place in a haughty spirit of God Almightiness. Emil Brunner sums it up well: Sin is defiance, arrogance, the desire to be equal with God the constitution of the autonomous reason, morality and culture. It is appropriate that he titled the book from which this quotation is taken Man in Revolt (p. 129).#
During the Middle Ages and the Reformation, when congregations were not as well educated and informed as we are now, the Christian faith could be preached as deliverance from sin and guilt. It is more difficult to do that today when there has been a widespread loss of a sense of what is sinful. Even if people manage to feel guilty, those feelings are buried pretty deep. [1] We are embarrassed to talk about sin unless we are in church. Outside these doors, we're just dysfunctional people who make mistakes and have problems. We use words like short-comings and hang-ups.
So the question remains -Does sin still matter? I must say sin has not gone on vacation to the Bahamas. Sin is just as real today as it was in the days of Moses, David, Job, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Jesus. The evangelist Billy Sunday used to say that one reason that sin flourishes is that it is treated like a cream-puff instead of a rattle snake. We do not have to look much further than our newspapers or televisions to be aware of how sin the rattle snake has spread its poison and made our society sin-sick. On any day we can read and watch acts of evil rape, stealing, murder, terrorism, greed and violence. Just let me show two examples:
First, let us look at the greed of bankers and brokers on Wall Street, how their sin of greed has caused misery and suffering to millions of Americans and this has spread to millions more around the globe. This is the sin which diminishes us as people who are created in the image of God. We are supposed to love God and treat our fellow human beings with dignity.
The second example is the President of Sudan. After months of deliberation, the judges of the International Criminal Court charged Mr. Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, with war crimes and crimes against humanity for playing an essential role in the murdering, raping, torturing, pillaging and displacement of innocent citizens of Darfur and Southern Sudan. For twenty five years he caused misery and death for millions of people. One wonders how a human being can be that callous. After the announcement of his crime, President Bashir was still not remorseful or repentant but was seen dancing proudly on the Television screens. Sin is like a cancer that has eaten any part of goodness God created in this man.
On the cross of Jesus we find the healing of the sin-sick soul of humanity where Jesus, the Son of the Living God, intercedes for President Bashir of Sudan and for greedy Bankers and brokers of Wall Street and for you and me. He pleads Father forgive them as they know not what they do (Luke 23: 24). The gospel brings Good News that, through his sacrifice, Jesus has delivered us from the bondage of sin and restored our relationship with God and our fellow human beings. Because of what Christ has done for us, we are called to share the good news of the amazing grace with the world and to help heal the nations. There is for each of us a cross to be borne and a discipline to be accepted, all in glad obedience to Jesus who came not be served but to serve. He gave His life as ransom for us all.
Tertullian, an early church theologian and a lawyer in North Africa, wrote this about the cross, our symbol of salvation: At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign[the cross]. As it is on the cross the power of sin is broken and crushed.
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take their cross and follow me. |
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Pope fears for Christians in Pakistan |
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Vatican City: April 6, 2010. (PTI) Pope Benedict XVI expressed in his Easter message today fears for Christians suffering "persecution and even death" in Pakistan. |
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"May the Risen Lord sustain the Christians who suffer persecution and even death for their faith, as for example in Pakistan," the 82-year-old pope said.
He also offered words of consolation to Christians in Iraq |
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Pope to foster 'hope, reconciliation' in Africa: Vatican |
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VATICAN CITY: March 11, 2009. (AFP) Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming trip to Cameroon and Angola will be an occasion to foster hope and reconciliation on a continent torn by conflict, the Vatican spokesman said Tuesday. |
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"The first trip to Africa is a trip of hope and overall reconciliation," Federico Lombardi said as he briefed the Vatican press corps on the weeklong tour beginning next Tuesday.
Benedict would address all Africans on March 19 from the Cameroonian capital Yaounde where he was due to meet delegates from 52 African states preparing a synod on Africa to be held at the Vatican in October, Lombardi said.
In Angola, which is still recovering from 27 years of civil war, Benedict would urge the international community not to abandon Africa when he meets with diplomats posted in Luanda.
The German pope, who will turn 82 on April 16, would be making his 11th trip outside Italy in his four years as pontiff and his first to Africa.
Benedict has travelled to the continent only once before, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1987 when he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire), Lombardi said.
His globe-trotting predecessor John Paul II made 16 trips to the continent, visiting 42 countries, during his papacy of nearly three decades.
The Roman Catholic Church is more dynamic in Africa than any other continent despite competition from evangelical Protestant denominations and Islam.
According to official Vatican statistics, the number of African Catholics grew by three percent in 2007 while populations remained stable elsewhere in the world.
The pope was due to hold open-air masses in Yaounde on March 19 and in Luanda on March 22. Benedict was also to meet charities, youth and women's groups and representatives of other faiths.
The October synod would be on the theme of "The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace."
A working document on the planned synod published in 2006 stressed the need for Africans to "assume their own responsibilities" in the continent's destiny without expecting all solutions to come from the West. |
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Pope cautious about defrocking abusive priest: letters |
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LOS ANGELES. April 10, 2010. (AFP) Future Pope Benedict XVI was reluctant to defrock a California priest in the 1980s accused of sexually abusing children, correspondence released by lawyers for the victims appeared to show on Friday |
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A series of letters released by attorney Jeff Anderson showed repeated misgivings concerning the conduct of priest Stephen Kiesle raised by senior officials from the Oakland diocese during the early 1980s.
In a letter sent by Oakland Bishop John Cummins to the Vatican in June 1981, he petitioned authorities to defrock Kiesle, citing a 1978 court case where he had pleaded no contest to abusing six children aged between 11 and 13.
A further letter sent by Cummins in February 1982 to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- who at the time was responsible for enforcing Roman Catholic doctrine -- again urged Kiesle to be defrocked.
"It is my conviction that there would be no scandal if this petition were granted," Cummins wrote, warning there "might be greater scandal to the community if Father Kiesle were allowed to return to the active ministry."
An additional request for action against Kiesle was sent in September 1982, only to receive a "rather curt" reply that the matter "would be examined at an opportune time" according to internal correspondence in the Oakland diocese.
By 1985 -- four years after the initial letter -- Oakland diocese officials were still awaiting word from the Vatican over the status of the petition requesting Kiesle's defrocking.
Eventually, Ratzinger replies to Cummins in a letter written in Latin dated November 15, 1985.
While Ratzinger admits the "gravity" of Kiesle's case, he states he is reluctant to take action immediately because he needs to consider the effect it will have on the "good of the Universal Church."
Ratzinger informs Cummins that Kiesle's case must be submitted to "careful consideration, which will take a longer period than usual."
In response, Oakland Diocese reverend George Mockel tells Cummins he believes the Vatican officials "are going to sit on" the case "until (Kiesle) gets quite a bit older."
"My own feeling is that this is unfortunate," Mockel writes.
Kiesle was eventually defrocked in 1987. He later worked as a youth co-ordinator at a parish in Pinole, northern California for eight months, a statement released by Anderson said.
Ratzinger went on to become Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
Large-scale pedophilia scandals have rocked the churches of Ireland, Austria, the United States and the pope's native Germany in recent months.
The 82-year-old pontiff has himself faced allegations that he failed to take action against predator priests when he served as the Vatican's watchdog for morals and doctrinal issues and earlier as the archbishop of Munich. |
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Pakistan presidency announces concessions |
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ISLAMABAD: March 14, 2009. (AFP) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari late Saturday offered key concessions to main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif in a bid to defuse the worst political crisis of his rule. |
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The decisions were taken during a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Zardari, the presidency said in a statement released after officials said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had telephoned the rival leaders.
But Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), the second biggest party in the country, which walked out of the government over a refusal to honour a deadline to reinstate judges, said it would wait for action not words.
Opposition party activists and lawyers are gearing up to march on Islamabad by Monday to demand that Zardari act on promises to reinstate judges sacked by ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
The opposition has been locked in a stand-off with the authorities, which has detained hundreds of activists, banned protests across the country and blockaded marchers from leaving key cities towards the capital Islamabad.
The presidency announced that Zardari and Gilani agreed that the "issue of judiciary and restoration of judges would be resolved in accordance with the principles laid down in the charter of democracy".
That document, signed by Zardari's widow, assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Sharif in 2006, pledged to restore democracy, avoid confrontation and abolish the role of the military in politics.
Zardari has reneged on three written promises to reinstate the judges.
The government would file an appeal to the Supreme Court against a ruling on February 25 that disqualified Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from contesting elections and holding public office, the presidency said.
"The federal government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict of the Supreme Court disqualifying Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif from electoral politics," the statement said.
The statement was released shortly after local officials announced that Clinton had called Zardari and Sharif, as efforts mounted to find a solution to resolve the crisis.
Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif, said he would wait to see how the announcement on the restoration of judges would play out, but welcomed the appeal to the Supreme Court on the Sharif brothers' disqualification.
"We will see how these things happen. How judges will be restored... It is not yet clear," Iqbal told AFP.
Musharraf removed independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and some 60 other judges in 2007, fearing that he would be declared ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform.
The move triggered a countrywide protest, spearheaded by lawyers, which ultimately forced Musharraf to quit in August 2008. |
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Media Trial of Pope is damaging image of Christianity in Islamic countries |
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Philadelphia: April 12, 2010. (PCP) The Christianity is religion of East and Western countries have always damaged its image by producing anti-Christ and baseless anti-Mary movies, publishing |
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material contrary to teachings of Jesus Christ and propaganda against Holy Father Pope, said Nazir S Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress PCC here today.
The medial trial of Holy Father Pope Benedict have surprised millions of Christians living in Islamic Countries who are keep their faith under very tough situation where they are victimized by political policies of Western leaders and publications of anti-Christianity books under cover of freedom of speech and expression or human rights said Nazir Bhatti
The Christian living in Islamic countries face daily hate and criticism on basis of their religion where Muslims openly claim that Christian around world are following and preaching not true Holy Bible but majority of Muslims pay due respect to Holy Father Pope and accept his authority as leader of more than 2 billion Christians.
The attempts to involve Holy Father Pope Benedict in child abuse cases is conspired by anti-Christian lobby to damage structure of Catholic Church.
Being a Catholic from Pakistani Origin, I have been reading news in national newspapers from years of incidents when Islamic Imam have sexually abused children in mosque or in his Hujra quarter adjacent to mosque but accused was arrested and dealt according to law and same has been case with few Catholic Priests in West who abused children and punished under law said Nazir Bhatti
Bhatti added it was violation of law and against norms of lawyer fraternity in Western countries who managed millions of dollars of settlement for abused children instead of bringing accused to justice
The Holy Father Pope is symbol of faith and next to heavenly powers on earth and propaganda against him is not acceptable.
There is non of case in Pakistan of child sex abuse by any priest nor in Asia or Africa but all cases of sex abused have been surfaced in Western developed countries because majority of Christians living in such countries not practice Christianity.
Holy Father Pope is head of Catholic Church around globe and billions of Catholics have grave concern by so-called allegations on His Holiness. |
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U.S. welcomes Pakistan's decision to restore deposed chief justice |
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ISLAMABAD: March 16, 2009. (Xinhua) The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan issued a statement on Monday, welcoming the decision made the Pakistan government to restore the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. |
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"We welcome the announcement by the Government of Pakistan of its plans to reinstate former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry," said the statement.
"This is a statesmanlike decision taken to defuse a serious confrontation, and the apparent removal of this long-standing national issue is a substantial step towards national reconciliation," it said.
"Now is the time for all Pakistanis and their political representatives to work together, with the support of their friends and allies, to peacefully strengthen their democracy and ensure a positive dialogue as they move forward to deal with the many issues confronting them," said the statement.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced restoration of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry earlier Monday in a televised address to the nation.
"My countrymen, in accordance with my commitment and the commitment made by the President of Pakistan, I declare reinstatement of Mr. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and all other deposed judges on their positions," the prime minister said.
"On March 21, on the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will assume the office of the Chief Justice," he said.
Gilani said that a notification is being issued shortly. The decision came after a high-level meeting in the President House Sunday night and early Monday.
A large number of political activists and lawyers rushed to the residence of the former chief justice to celebrate his restoration.
The government's decision came the same day when Sharif is due to lead the "long march" procession towards Islamabad to press for the government to restore the deposed chief justice.
Sharif, chief of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), spearheaded the procession from eastern city of Lahore to Islamabad after defying a detention order by the local administration.
The lawyers and political activists kicked off their "long march" on March 12.
The government has imposed restrictions over the demonstrations, arresting many lawyers and activists to stop them from entering Islamabad.
Gilani has demanded in his speech the immediate release of all political activists and lawyers who have been arrested over the past few days. He also announced end to a ban on political activities.
Sharif has called off the "long march" demonstration after the government's decision to restore the chief justice.
Some 60 Supreme Court and High Courts judges were sacked in November 2007 when then-President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency. Some of them took fresh oath of office while others including sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry are yet to be restored. |
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Acid attack on converted Muslim girl in Egypt |
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Cairo: April 17, 2010. (By Mary Abdelmassih AINA) -- Dina el-Gowhary, the 15-year-old Egyptian Muslim-born girl who converted to Christianity, was subjected to an acid attack |
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the latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics against her and her father, 57-year-old Peter Athanasius (Maher el-Gowhary), who converted to Christianity 35 years ago. Several Fatwa's were issued calling for the "spilling of his blood," which makes their lives in constant danger in the face of the reactionaries and advocates for the enforcement of Islamic apostasy laws, which call for the death of a convert.
Dina said that three weeks ago as she ventured out from their hiding place in Alexandria with her father to get some bottled water, her jacket was set on fire due to acid being thrown at her. "My father quickly took my jacket off before the fire reached my arms. Ever since then I am terrorized to go out in the street, with or without my father."
Through an aired interview with Freecopts advocacy Dina addressed an open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt begging him to save her and her father and allow them to leave Egypt.
She said that she had written previously to President Obama, who got her message and responded to it (AINA 11-17-2009). It was reported that the el-Gowharys met with the US Committee on International Religious Freedom on their last visit to Egypt in January 2010, and that they have asked for asylum in the United States (Fox News video).
Dina wonders whether she will get the same attention from President Mubarak as she did from President Obama. "Will he listen and lend us a helping hand, if, as they claim, he truly does not differentiate between Muslim and Christian citizens?" She asked the Egyptian President, who newly became grandfather to a baby girl "Do you accept that your granddaughter would live under the same conditions like mine? I have no home, I am always afraid when I go to church or even go out in the street, I have no friends and no education."
In her letter to President Mubarak, Dina expressed her deep distress at the mistreatment and continuous troubles she finds everywhere she goes, including being beaten and humiliated. She tells of how "because of her love for Jesus" she left her Muslim mother and went to live with her Christian father, abandoning school where she was persecuted by teachers and students. "I was threatened many times before. Once coming back from school, a bearded young man stepped out of a car, lifted me through my clothes from the ground and warned me that if my father and myself do not go back to Islam, both of us will be killed."
Dina, now living with her father for the last two years, has to move with him from one place to another in search of personal safety for both, in the face of the many threats that they experienced since her father declared his conversion to Christianity and his desire to his change religious designation in official documents.
In June 2009 a Court refused his request to order the Civil Registry to alter his religious designation on his ID to reflect his Christian religion and his Christian name, Peter Athanasius. The Court ruling said that the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic Sharia law and poses a threat to the "Public Order" in Egypt. He appealed the Court ruling (AINA 6-16-2009).
In the Freecopts interview, Dina says that she hopes that President Mubarak will help them to leave Egypt in order for them to live normally and for her to continue her education.
The el-Gowhary family was barred from leaving Egypt on September 17, 2009 without any legal reason. They were told, however, that the order came from a higher authority. To this today, says Maher, he does not know why he is barred from travel and which authority exactly is barring him (AINA 9-26-2009).
He explained, in a interview with Freecopts this week, the extremely difficult circumstances they are living under, being hunted the whole time and with many attempts on their lives. "It is only due to the Grace and Protection of God, that we are still alive until today," he adds.
"Why did they confiscate our passports? What have we done wrong?" said Dina. "The only thing we did is that we loved Jesus with all their hearts and converted to Christianity." The teenage girl stressed that whatever the government does or will to them to force them to abandon Christianity is in vain. "We will never leave Christianity and we will never ever revert back to Islam. Jesus is simply etched in our hearts," she said. |
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Angola awaits second visit of a Pope with message of peace |
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Luanda: March 16, 2009. The Republic of Angola will receive from 20 to 23 March, for the second time in its history, the visit of a Pope, after the visit of John Paul II in June 1992. |
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This visit happens at a time when the Angolan authorities take measures to tackle the cases of gender violence that lately have been emerging in the whole of the national territory.
Benedict XVI brings to Angola a message of peace and reconciliation, aiming at uniting families and providing the well-being of all citizens according to the Holy Bible.
The media in recent days have reported cases of adult sexual abuse of children and couples who for one reason or another get into fighting, even causing the loss of lives.
According to testimony of several personalities, both religious and political, the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI is an extremely important moment for Angola and Africa as they prepare the African Synod to be held in October this year in Rome, and it celebrates the fifth centenary of the evangelisation of the continent by the Catholic Church.
According to opinions, the faith of believers will be strengthened as they hear the message of the top leader of the Catholic Church worldwide, which by his experience and sense of peace will certainly advise all Angolans to stop violence.
In Angola, the Pope will meet with the diplomats in Luanda, to appeal to the international community about its responsibilities in Africa. The Pope's meetings with the faithful will take place in Yaounde on 19 March, and in Luanda on the 22nd in two masses.
Meetings are expected to happen with heads of charity organisations, youths and women associations. |
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Pope says church must do penance for abuse cases |
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VATICAN CITY: April 19, 2010. (Reuters) - Pope Benedict marked five years as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics on Monday, calling his church a "wounded sinner" torn between the persecutions of the world and the consolation of God. |
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VATICAN CITY: April 19, 2010. (Reuters) - Pope Benedict marked five years as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics on Monday, calling his church a "wounded sinner" torn between the persecutions of the world and the consolation of God.
The German-born pontiff, who turned 83 last Friday, struck the reflective tone while thanking 46 cardinals at a private lunch in the Vatican for their support in a difficult time, the official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported.
Benedict attended the lunch after a weekend visit to Malta, where he met eight men sexually abused by priests in his latest step to counter the scandal that has rocked the church.
"The pontiff alluded to the sins of the church, recalling that it, a wounded sinner, felt all the more the consolation of God," L'Osservatore Romano wrote of the lunch gathering.
It quoted a saying from St Augustine, who called the church a pilgrim who shuttles between "the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God."
Benedict has avoided mentioning the spreading sexual abuse scandal in public but made several indirect references to the church's sins and the need to repent. Hundreds of abuse cases, many decades old, have been alleged in recent months in Europe.
Out around Saint Peter's Square, Catholic pilgrims expressed concern about the scandal and support for the pope.
"The recent years have not been easy," said Marco Bosco from Spain. "The challenge is to see that everything that happened this year is cleared up. We trust Pope Benedict to do that."
The low-key anniversary contrasted with the optimism of his election on April 19, 2005, when the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger surprised the world with a gentle approach at odds with his fierce reputation as the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog.
In his first speech, he pledged to continue on the path of his popular predecessor, Pope John Paul, and foster Christian unity and good relations with other religions.
SUCCESSIVE CONTROVERSIES
But since then, his papacy has been marked by successive controversies, several with other faiths, and a pattern of poor communications that often poured fuel on the fire.
The recent wave of allegations of child sexual abuse by priests, some going back decades, is the latest in this series. It began in Ireland and spread this year to Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and other European countries.
Benedict has gone further than any pope in condemning abuse, meeting victims and urging bishops to work with the police, but his reluctance to take more aggressive steps -- such as retiring bishops who hid predator priests -- disappoints his critics.
Malta's President George Abela hinted more was needed when he told Benedict on his arrival there Saturday that it must ensure "justice will not only be done but seen to be done."
On his first trip only months after his election, Benedict made good on his promise to foster contacts with other religions by visiting a synagogue and meeting other Christian and Muslim leaders in Cologne during the World Youth Days there.
TENSIONS WITH JEWS
But a year later in Regensburg, Germany, he angered the Muslim world with a lecture in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor saying Islam was violent and irrational.
He said he was misunderstood and made several fence-mending statements and gestures. An olive branch offered by Islamic scholars helped start a dialogue that has since developed well, although the original Regensburg speech still rankles Muslims.
Relations with Jews grew tense as Benedict made the reinforcement of Catholic tradition a top priority of his papacy. Jewish groups have objected to his support for making the late Pope Pius XII a saint, saying he did not do enough to save Jews from the Holocaust.
The readmission of four excommunicated bishops from the ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X also angered Jews because one of them, Richard Williamson, denied the Holocaust.
British Catholic commentator Austen Ivereigh said Benedict was intent on bringing the schismatic group back into the church despite the problems this might cause. "He feels there are some things more important than good relations," Ivereigh said.
That decision was also controversial in the church, where some bishops, especially in France and Germany, argued a return to traditions such as the old Latin Mass could mean a rollback of reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). |
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Keeping Gods Law Sermon by Rev. Canon Dr. Patrick P Augustine on Third Sunday in Lent at Christ Episcopal Church, La Crosse, Wisconsin |
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The Law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul; bThe testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.(Ps.19:7 |
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The Decalogue:
Then God spoke all these words: Exodus 20:1-17
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any workyou, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbors wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple: John 2: 13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves Take these things out of here! Stop making my Fathers house a market-place! His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house will consume me. The Jews then said to him, What sign can you show us for doing this? Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
TRUE WORSHIP
Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. (Ps. 19:14)
Dr. Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal Rector, tells about a church member who planned to climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments at the top. Thinking this would please his Rector, the church member was surprised to hear Brooks say, "You know, I can think of something even better than that."
You can, Father? And what might that be?"
Brooks said: Instead of traveling thousands of miles to read the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, why not stay right here at home and keep them?"
People often call the Ten Commandments the "Decalogue." Perhaps no piece of literature or law has had greater influence on civilization. Imagine 3,200 years ago. What good news these laws must have been for Israelites wandering in a polytheistic culture where all sorts of gods controlled fate. If you made one angry, even by accident, you were in big trouble. But Yahweh made it clear and simple: With a mighty hand I brought you out of Egypt and out of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me."
The commandments are traditionally divided into two tablets. The first describes duties to God that concern the worship of His majesty. The second teaches that families are the foundation of society and human life and peace are highly valued. Adultery, stealing, lying, or coveting anothers possessions threaten family stability and are considered sins against God. The first four commandments are religious and uniquely related to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The last six commandments relate to moral behavior. Some fellow Americans feel everyone should follow all ten, but for those outside the Abrahamic faith tradition this causes conflict.
Not long ago the Decalogue was a venerable public standard of morality. Our society today is lot more argumentative about the role religion has in public life in the United States. In recent decades, the relentless levelers, groups like Freedom from Religion have mounted an aggressive campaign with passion to scrape clean from American life anything that bears a depiction of the Ten Commandments as the arbitrary preferences of Jews and Christians.[i]
They argue to confine the Decalogue to the private world of religious communities. Many people dont want to hear of a God who lays down the law. I believe that Christians need to hold to the view that the Decalogue inscribes a universal law laid down by God for those he created to order their lives within Gods kingdom.
In October 2002, during my first visit to La Crosse, I saw yard signs and heard about the Ten Commandments controversy. Later, in an interview with the La Crosse Tribune, I offered the front yard of Christ Church as an alternate site for the tablets in an effort to end the conflict in our city. Although the issue seems to have been resolved in La Crosse, you may recall TV coverage of a crew hauling Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's huge Ten Commandments monument out of the court building while an angry protester screamed, "Get your hands off our God!" That man probably thought he was a sincere Christian, but his outburst contradicted the summary of the law that Jesus taught and exemplified.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40).
In the appointed Epistle reading St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth; The Message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
In 1996 during my first visit to Sudan I experienced that power of God in the lives of the members of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. This was a displaced, hungry and oppressed community who had lost over two million people by the genocidal policies of government of Sudan. I found an electrifying faith of the persecuted church for who amidst suffering the Cross of Jesus was the power of God to continue to praise and believe that Jesus is Lord.
Todays Gospel is about the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus teaches that emphasis on external compliance can turn into sheer mockery of the honor of God. The temple was vital to the religious life of the Jews. At Passover, as many as two million came from everywhere to celebrate the liberation of the people of Israel from the slavery of the Pharaoh of Egypt through the mighty hand of God.
At this time of the year, every Jewish male had to pay a temple tax of half-shekel with a special coin with no inscription or human image on it. Secular currency had to be exchanged by agents of the religious authority. They charged steep fees and paid back only half of the original price to pilgrims, many of whom were the poorest of the poor. Sacrificial animals approved by the priests were sold at very high prices. This barefaced extortion aroused the flaming anger of our Lord.
As Jesus tipped over cages and tables, scattering coins and moneychangers, imagine how his disciples felt. Some might have been embarrassed. If I were there I would have surely said, Thats my man. These fishermen and commoners knew the tremendous power of the religious leadership and probably feared for their own safety while Jesus took on the establishment.
Perhaps a verse flashed into their minds from Psalm 69. The Zeal of Thy house has consumed me This Psalm describes the suffering and the agony of the One who was to be Messiah. They may have begun to understand that God does not compromise with evil and hypocrisy. As Israels King David cried out in repentance: For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51: 16-17).
Throughout religious history, violence has been committed in Gods name by Christian Crusaders, Jewish Zionists and Islamic fundamentalists, but violence for conquest or political change does not serve God. Jesus showed the true nature of the commandments: to love God and equally respect the dignity of every human being.
We see that in the life of Agnes Bojaxhiu from Albania. This young Roman Catholic nun had surrendered her life to Christ and dedicated it to the love of fellow human beings. She believed the only way to love and honor God was to love and honor Gods children on earth. She left her country to teach in Calcutta. Outside the convents walls, she saw a sea of humanity, suffering with poverty and disease. In each face she saw the face of Christ. Because she believed even the very poor have the right to die well, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. We know her better as Mother Theresa.
God in Jesus Christ has created a new human community where we are no longer divided into Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female. Here the weak are protected, the stranger welcomed. People are healed, the poor and dispossessed are cared for and find justice. Joy abounds and ordinary lives are filled with praise. We do not need to impose our religion. We need to practice it. In the words of Father Brooks, instead of reading the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, we can stay right here and keep them. |
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Militants burn down St. Denys Girls High School in Murree |
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Murree, Punjab: April 26, 2010. (PCP) St. Denys Girls High School Murree was mysteriously set on fire in evening of April 25, 2010, which was a Girls boarding High School and a project of Church of Pakistan. |
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This is the same school which was burnt down on 04th November 2009 and till today no one knows the reasons. Now this School was doing its ministry by providing educations from the girls of Classes 1 to High School in another building owned by Church. Now this building is also burnt down.
A reliable source, who is on staff of this school and does not want to tell his name, told PCP that some unidentified persons locked the doors of dormitories and staff residences from out sides and lit the fire. After panic when victims came out by breaking the windows and doors, three student girls fainted because of the flames and smoke fire.
PCP resource also told that the administrative workers who all are Muslims, did not called the rescue teams in time. The representative of Rescue 1122 and Fire Engines told that they were informed very late as when they reached the building was almost destroyed.
Our Special Correspondent who himself feels scared for himself says that he remained unable to figure it out that were they any causalities, if yes how much. He thinks that there is a constant conspiracy of the Islamic extremists and they are fulfilling their agenda by such quite attacks rather than militant attacks they are fluffing their agenda, the only difference is this like this Police and law enforcement does not increase its monitoring but the loss is of Christians in both the ways of attack which is the wish of Islamic extremists. He said, it is also an admitted fact that everyone knows in Murree that Christians of Murree and their institutions including Church buildings and homes are under threats and Murree is becoming hub of Islamic extremists and mostly Mosque leaders of Murree are radicals and have deep connection with Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa which is Internationally recognized Taliban and Islamic extremists area.
It is also fact that Murree also share a nearby boarder with Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa province renamed NWFP without any strong check posts. He said that Christians in Murree and almost in all Pakistan are living in great mental terror and threat, thus becoming physiological patients because of these situations which is getting worse day by day and interesting thing is this that this war is not theres its war of western countries with the Islamic extremists but here in countries like Pakistan western Muslims think that all the Christians globally are one with the same ideology and United States, United Kingdom and Europe are entirely Christians countries. |
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Pope meets Cameroon's Muslims, stresses values |
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YAOUNDE, CAMEROON: March 19, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI stressed the common values shared by Christianity and Islam at a meeting with leading members of Cameroon's Muslim community Thursday. |
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Cameroon "shelters thousands of Christians and Muslims who often live, work and carry out their religious devotions in the same neighbourhood," said the pope in a text distributed to journalists.
They all believed in a single God and shared "fundamental values" such as the family, social responsibility, obedience to God and care for the weak, he added.
"Genuine religion thus widens the horizon of human understanding," and "rejects all forms of violence and totalitarianism, not only on principles of faith, but also on right reason," said Benedict, who is making his first visit to Africa as pope.
In a September 2006 speech at Ratisbonne in Germany, the pope provoked outrage among sections of the Muslim community for appearing to question the rational basis of Islam and associating it with violence. AFP |
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A Christian housemaid tortured by Pakistan Air Force Police |
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Islamabad; April 28, 2010. (PCP) Sumera Pervaiz, 14 years old Christian girl was working as housemaid in Wing Commander Faheem Cheema house in Pakistan Air Force Islamabad base colony while his family was also living in servants quarters area. |
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Wing Commander Pakistan Air Force lodged a report against unidentified persons on a theft in his house claiming that thieves took away valuables and more than 900 grams of gold ornaments on April 15, 2010. The Marglla Police Station Islamabad was investigation the case when PAF Police allegedly picked up Sumera Pervaiz and other members of his family and tortured to third degree.
Teenage Sumera Pervaiz was tortured for 5 days to accept theft from his employer PAF Wing Commander Faheem Cheema but she claimed he innocence. She was so brutally tortured by PAF Police that admitted to Pakistan Air Force Hospital for medical aid to save her life. The PAF police not bothered to inform Margalla Police Station that they were picking civilian Sumera Pervaiz and others for investigation.
On the directives of Session Judge, Police here on 26th April, Monday recovered a 14-year old Christian girl from Pakistan Air Force (PAF) hospital, Islamabad.
These people were also living in the PAF Colony in category four-quarters. On Thursday, the police produced 4 people before the District and Session Judge Ch. Mazhar Hussain Barlas. However the police told the court that Sumera`s health didnt allow her to come in the court and was, therefore admitted in the PAF Hospital.
On this Sumera`s Advocates Jamila Aslam and Shamoona Javid pleaded the court that their client had been tortured, and requested it to direct for producing the girl in the court.
After that, the judge ordered SHO Station House Officer Margalla to bring Sumera in the court. Later the police produced the girl before the court. In her statement before the judge Sumera told the Court that on April 15, some three persons in plain clothes dropped in her house at mid-night and picked her along with her father.
She said "We remained in the custody of those people for many days, who brutally tortured me during their so called interrogation". She further said that when she was being interrogated by the PAF Police she also saw her brother there. When the Judge asked her who had brought her to the hospital, she replied that during interrogation she had gone unconscious and later she found herself in the hospital, "So I dont know who brought me there" she added.
On this the judge in his remarks said that while keeping in view the statement it seems that Sumera`s brother was also in the custody of PAF.
The judge directed the SHO Margalla to produce Imran Pervaiz before the Court. He further ordered that if Imran was not produced then he would direct him (the SHO) to lodge a FIR against the Wing Commander Faheem Cheema in the light of Sumera and her father's statements. The Session judge further directed the police for medical checkup of Sumera and said that medical reports to be shown to the court. While the judge released four other people including Pervaiz Masih, Sana bibi, Parveen Masih and Kala Masih who also allegedly remained in the custody of the PAF Police.
Sumera is barely able to walk, according to the doctors she might not be able to walk for the rest of her life. Her whole family has been severely tortured by the police.
On the other hand the Wing Commander has said " I dont know anything about the illegal detention of the family, neither I asked the police to interrogate them. They did everything on their own".
Christian organizations including Pakistan Christian Congress, Ephlal Ministry, Peace Pakistan, Protect Foundation, Life for All and others have strongly condemned the brutal torturing of the innocent family done by the police. Chairman Ephlal Ministry Mr. Mehboob Alam is calling on other Christian leaders to stand with the family in time of their need, as they have been thrown out of the PAF quarters. |
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Obama seeks new beginnings with Iran |
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WASHINGTON DC: March 20, 2009. (AFP) US President Barack Obama launched an historic direct appeal to the Iranian people on Friday, urging an end to decades of animosity and offering "honest" engagement with the Islamic Republic. |
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A top advisor to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed Obama's olive branch, but urged Washington to recognize and repair "past mistakes."
Obama said in a video message marking the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, that his administration "is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community."
In a new decisive break with his predecessor, President George W. Bush, Obama called the celebrations a time of "new beginnings."
He said he wanted a new era of "engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."
Obama said he wanted "constructive ties" with Iran, which could take its "rightful place" in the world if it renounced terror and embraced peace.
"For nearly three decades relations between our nations have been strained," he said. "But at this holiday we are reminded of the common humanity that binds us together."
The two nations have had no diplomatic ties since 1980, following Iran's Islamic revolution and the taking of US diplomats as hostages for more than a year.
Bush lumped Iran in his "Axis of Evil" with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, then led international accusations that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Iranian officials regularly refer to Washington as the "Great Satan."
"We welcome the wish of the president of the United States to put away past differences," the Iranian president's press advisor Ali Akbar Javanfekr told AFP in Tehran.
But he added: "The American administration has to recognize its past mistakes and repair them as a way to put away the differences."
"If Obama shows willingness to take action, the Iranian government will not show its back to him," Javanfekr said, while condemning what he called the "hostile, aggressive and colonialist attitude of the American government."
Iran's Energy Minister Parviz Fattah said: "Absolutely this message is positive ... although it might also have negative points in itself as well."
Iran's leaders "will precisely assess this message. We believe that we need that in addition to messages we need positive action from Mr. Obama as well as from his government," the minister said in Islamabad.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana described the Obama video as "a very constructive message" that could "open a new chapter" in international relations with Tehran.
"I hope very much that the Iranians will take good attention" to Obama's message, he told reporters in Brussels.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also welcomed the statement. "The start of substantive dialogue will facilitate the revival of trust in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," he said.
Without restating accusations of Iran's support for terrorism or its nuclear program, Obama said "the United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations."
"You have that right -- but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.
"And the measure of that greatness is not the capacity to destroy, it is your demonstrated ability to build and create."
Obama highlighted the potential for "greater opportunities for partnership and commerce.
"It's a future where the old divisions are overcome, where you and all of your neighbors and the wider world can live in greater security and greater peace."
Obama's address signals his administration's recognition of Iran as a potential negotiating partner, even though he has declined to rule out military action to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.
Obama pledged during his election campaign last year to engage with Washington's adversaries. During his January 20 inaugural address he promised the Muslim world he would "extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
The Iranian president then encouraged Obama to "put an end to the expansionist policies" of the United States.
Iran could be a key player in the United States exit from Iraq, tackling the Taliban in Afghanistan, and progress on the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The White House said a version of the video with Farsi subtitles was distributed to news outlets in the region Friday. There is also an online version. |
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Pakistani Muslim Allegedly Beats A Christian Employee to Death, Injures His Brother |
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Washington, D.C: April 29, 2010. International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on April 21, a Muslim employer allegedly beat two Christian siblings with an iron rod killing one and seriously injuring the other in Sargodha, Pakistan |
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The Muslim owner of Five Star Switches company, Shafiq-ur-Rehman Khan, allegedly killed Waqas Masih, 14, and seriously injured Zeeshan Masih, 12, after they extended their leave from work for one more day without his permission.
Before beating them, Khan contemptuously called the two Christians choora (a derogatory word frequently used to insult Christians in Pakistan, which literally means sanitary worker). He also told them that because they were Christians, they were not suitable for learning to make switches; instead they should clean the streets and manure.
Waqas Masih and Zeeshan Masih had been working as apprentices at the company for the last two years. Zeeshan informed ICC that Waqas suffered injuries over his head and spinal cord and died on the spot. Zeeshan was later taken to a clinic for medical treatment.
ICC spoke with Shafiq-ur-Rehman Khan (the alleged perpetrator). He denied the allegations and claimed that the victims had fallen from the roof of the factory.
Family members of the victims have asked the police to apprehend Khan for his alleged crimes. ICC also spoke with the police in Sargodha. They told ICC that up until now, they have not brought a case against Khan but they have questioned him. The police said that a fair trial would be conducted, the killer would be properly punished and justice would be served for the Christian family.
ICCs Regional Manager for South Asia, Jonathan Racho, said, We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Waqas and injuries sustained by Zeeshan. We call upon the Pakistani Police to seriously investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. We call upon the international community to pay attention to this and other plights of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan |
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Pope voices sorrow for deadly stampede |
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Luanda Angola: March 22, 2009. (AFP) Pope Benedict XVI expressed "deep sorrow" on Sunday for the deaths of two girls in a stampede at a church-organised event in Angola, as hundreds of thousands gathered for the biggest Mass of his African tour. |
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Two girls were killed and 40 injured on Saturday in a crush when the gates of a stadium in the Angolan capital Luanda were opened for 30,000 youths who had come to hear him speak.
"I offer my sympathies to their families and friends, and my deep sorrow, because they were coming to meet me. I pray for the wounded," Benedict said at the start of a giant Mass service on Sunday which drew hundreds of thousands.
The crowds cheered as the pope drove to a giant steel stage in a field that organisers said could hold two million people but was not completely full.
The event was far more orderly than the raucous reception the pope received on Saturday.
Keenly aware of the tragedy, organisers promptly escorted rowdy youths off the field. The last deadly stampede during a papal visit was in 1980, when nine people died in Kinshasa during a service by Pope John Paul II.
But most people followed the service, singing hymns in the blazing heat, with women in pink sarongs bearing the face of the pope and Jesus, while others had the Benedict's image emblazoned on their T-shirts and baseball caps.
Health workers at a medical tent said they treated about 400 people for heat stroke, including two who were sent to hospital.
Benedict used his homily to urge Angolans to rebuild their nation after decades of civil war, following on his earlier calls for African leaders to step up the fight against poverty and corruption.
"Tragically, the clouds of evil have also overshadowed Africa, including this beloved nation of Angola," he said.
The pope denounced "the evil of war, the murderous fruits of tribalism and ethnic rivalry," but encouraged Angola's Catholics "to be the builders of a better tomorrow for your beloved country."
"It is to preach this message of forgiveness, hope and new life in Christ that I have come to Africa," he added.
Angola is home to one of the oldest Catholic communities in sub-Saharan Africa -- the religion arrived with the Portuguese 500 years ago -- but now faces growing competitors for the faith of the nation.
Organised evangelical churches, traditional faiths and home-grown sects are all growing in popularity, even though some of the shadier sects have been implicated in child abuse scandals and even human sacrifice.
On Saturday, Benedict condemned the practice of witchcraft and urged Catholic clergy and laypeople to convert more people to the faith.
About 55 percent of Angolans are still Catholic, and the Church remains one of the few strong national voices outside of government, running a radio station in Luanda known for broadcasting dissenting views.
Local Church leaders hope the pope's visit will push Angola's government -- run by the formerly Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola -- to allow Radio Ecclesia to broadcast nationwide.
In a speech at President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's residence late Friday, Benedict urged African leaders to allow greater press freedom, as he made a stern call for the continent to do more to fight poverty and corruption.
Dos Santos has ruled Angola for 30 years, and the country is ranked among the most corrupt in the world by Transparency International.
The mass was the last major event of his two-nation tour, which began on Tuesday in Cameroon and sparked controversy before he even landed, when Benedict told reporters on the plane that condoms were aggravating the AIDS crisis.
He returns to the Vatican on Monday. |
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Pakistan in countries of concern list of USCIRF report on Religious Freedom |
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Washington DC: April 30, 2010. (REAL) United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Eleventh Annual Report on Religious Freedom in the World Released |
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recommending 13 nationsBurma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnambe named countries of particular concern, or CPCs.
Watch List Nations: Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Laos, Russian Federation, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Venezuela
USCIRF concerned about religious based violence and breakdown in justice known as impunity
USCIRF has seen the effects of impunity firsthandparticularly on vulnerable minority religious groupsduring fact-finding trips to Egypt, Nigeria, and Sudan. USCIRF also has monitored the states failure to punish private, religiously-motivated violence in Afghanistan, Eritrea, India, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. |
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Pope appoints Bishop Salvatore Cordileone to be next bishop of Oakland, California |
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Vatican City: Mar 24, 2009. (CNA) This morning Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone to become the next Bishop of Oakland, Calif. |
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Currently serving as an auxiliary bishop of San Diego, Bishop Cordileone will become the shepherd of 400,000 Catholics in the Oakland area.
Bishop Cordileone will be taking over after Archbishop Allen Vigneron was appointed to lead the Archdiocese of Detroit in January of this year.
The speed of the appointment may be connected with the news that the interim administrator of the diocese, Fr. Dan Danielson, was accused of blessing homosexual unions prior to being named to oversee the diocese.
A native of San Diego, the 52 year-old bishop attended San Diego State University, the University of San Diego and St. Francis Seminary. Bishop Cordileone completed his seminary formation at Pontifical North American College in Rome.
Cordileone was ordained a priest in 1982 and served for three years as an associate pastor at St. Martin of Tours in La Mesa. In 1985 he returned to Rome to get a doctorate in canon law, and after six years of study returned to California to become the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Calexico.
Given his expertise in canon law, Cordileone was chosen to serve as a member of the Churchs highest court, the Apostolic Signatura, in 1995.
Fr. Cordileone was consecrated a bishop in 2002 and has served since then in the Diocese of San Diego under Bishop Robert Brom.
Bishop Cordileone will be serving 406,947 laity, 433 priests, 12 permanent deacons and 843 religious in Oakland. |
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Muslim mob attack Christian in Essa Nagri Karachi. |
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Karachi, Pakistan: May 3, 2010. (PCP) The reports are coming up of Muslim mob attack on Christian colony in Karachi. according to initial reports, hundreds of Pushtoon Muslims attacked Essa Nagri, a biggest residential pocket of Christians in Pakista |
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Essa Nagri have more than fifty thousand Christians residential area in Metropolitan Karachi city which is surrounded by Pushto speaking groups immigrants from former NWFP and renamed Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa province which is base of Pakistani Taliban.
According to PCP sources, Pukhtoon ethnic Muslim mob equipped with firearms and automatic assault rifles attacked Essa Nagri. The Pushtoon Muslim mob took out Christian women and children and injured them with rifle buts and fired in air to harass innocent Christians. The broke doors of Christians homes who have locked them in homes with fear.
The more news are coming up of this attack. |
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Security Situation in Afghanistan Threatens to Make Elections a Magnet for Taliban Attacks, Expanding their Footprint and Psychological Control |
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LONDON: March 25, 2009. (PCP) Research undertaken by ICOS in southern Afghanistan and Kabul throughout 2008 and into 2009 indicates a real engagement by Afghans in the idea of democracy, |
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and a vigorous and open discussion of a wide variety of candidates, according to a report issued today by The International Council on Security and Development (ICOS). ICOS field research has also revealed a remarkable absence of concern over the Presidents ethnic background, and an openness to consider female candidates in electoral conversations.
Despite the dramatic deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan, there is clear evidence that the seeds of democracy have been sown, and the people of Afghanistan are a receptive audience, said Norine MacDonald QC, President and Lead Field Researcher.
Unfortunately, the current security situation in Afghanistan is so uncertain that the states capacity to hold truly representative elections in the upcoming Presidential elections to be held August 20, 2009 is in serious doubt, said MacDonald.
According to ICOS, polling and election activities risk being a magnet for the Taliban activities, allowing them to demonstrate their ability to disrupt government activities, and enabling them to expand their footprint and psychological control especially in rural areas.
The very act of casting a vote will be fraught with danger in many areas, and may be functiona | | |
