Lahore: May 9, 2014. (Pervez Yousaf) 3rd May 2014: To pay reverence, to pay tribute to his efforts as the greatest envoy of peace and interfaith dialogue throughout the world and to mark the commemoration of the historical visit of St. John Paul II on 16th February 1981, Council for Interfaith Dialogue Pakistan organized an exhibition of photos in the Peace Auditorium of St. Joseph’s Church Lahore Cantt. Inaugural ceremony of this exhibition was organized on 27th of April 2014, the day of proclamation of Sainthood of Blessed Pope John Paul II and Pope John XIII by Holy Father Pope Francis. His Grace Msgr. Sebastian Francis Shaw, Archbishop of the Lahore Archdiocese along with Arif Hameed Butt cousin brother of sitting prime minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Vice Provincial of Dominican fathers in Pakistan Rev. Fr, Pascal Paulus O.P and Rev. Fr. Francis Nadeem OFM Cap inaugurated this glorious exhibition by cutting a red ribbon in the presence of more than one thousand faithful belonging to different parts of Lahore. The exhibition was organized under the directives of Fr. Francis Nadeem coordinator of the Council. Pervez Yousaf, secretary of the Council for Interfaith Dialogue was the leading member of organizing team of the exhibition while Apostolic Carmelite Sisters headed by Sr. Mary Nilanthi put a lot of efforts to add an eye catching to the Peace Auditorium. Theme of exhibition was “St. John Paul II Pope and Pakistan” which highlighted the visual glimpses of his visit to Pakistan. More than one hundred photos of his visit including celebration of Holy Eucharist at National Stadium Karachi in the presence of more than one hundred thousand people from all over Pakistan and followers of different religions, his photos with Pakistani bishops, fathers, sisters and lay people were displayed in the show. His photos with dignitaries of the government of Pakistan including current Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif were also a significant part of the exhibition. Not only the Christian faithful but also leaders and scholars of different religions, government officials, children of schools, students of Madrissas (Muslim seminaries) and Church organizations visited during the week long display of the historical photographs of St. John Paul II. Commodore Akbar Naqi Station Commander (Navy) Lahore, Imam and Khateeb of historic Badshahi Majid (Mosque) Maulana Syed Abdul Khabeer Azad, Director of New Century Quran Institute Mufti Syed Ashiq Hussain along with the students of the institute and a number of other Muslim scholars and leaders viewed the exhibition. Commenting about the St. John Paul II Commodore Akbar Naqi said that it is a blessing and great honour for our country that such a great spiritual personality came here and blessed this land by kissing it in the presence of the then president and other high official who were gathered at Karachi International Airport. He further said, “I feel pride that a team of Pakistan Navy was chosen to be his security guard during this short stay.” He also said that we all are Pakistanis and according to sayings of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah deserve equal rights. There is no difference among us. After seeing the photos of St. John Paul II Maulana Syed Abdul Khabeer Azad said that St. John Paul II worked for the welfare of entire humanity regardless of any sort of discrimination. His name for peace building and promotion of interfaith dialogue will remain alive in the history of the world. The closing ceremony of this exhibition that took place on the 3rd of May was presided by chairman of the Council for Interfaith Dialogue Pir Shafat Rasool and vice provincial of Dominican order in Pakistan Rev. Fr, Pascal Paulus O.P. The other religious leaders and representatives of civil society organizations were including Allama Farooq Ahmed Saeedi, Mufti Syed Ashiq Hussain, Allama Younas Hassan, Hafiz Muhammad Mudassar, Sohail Ahmed Raza, Qari Abdul Razzaq, Sahbizada Abdul Mustafa Chishti Sialvi, Anwaar-ul-Haque Khan, Maulana Raji-ullah Khan, Professor Farooq, Pir S. A. Jafri, Prof. Shabbir Anjum Madni, Nasir Ghani, Shahzad Munshi Chaudhry (MPA), Allama Asghar Arif Chishti, Mufti Waseem Raza Qadri, Maulama Hussain Ahmed Awan, Hafiz Nauman, Allama Naseem Raza Qadri, and advocate High Court Shabnam Nagi. On this occasion Bhagat Lal represented Hindu community while Sardar Janam Singh (chief priest of Gurudwara in Nankana Sahib) and renowned singer Sardar Jassi Singh represented Sikh community. Among Christian leaders and representatives of different walks of life were Fr. Benjamin David, Fr. Inayat Bernard, Vice Provincial of Dominican order Fr. Pascal Paulus O.P., Fr. James Channan O.P., Rev. Emmanuel Khokhar, Fr. Shahzada Khurram OFM Cap., Dr. Kanwal Feroze, Pervez Yousaf, Rev. Dr. Marcus Fida, and Rev. I. B. Rocky were prominent. On this occasion secretary of the council Pervez Yousaf briefed participants about the exhibition followed by an introduction and welcome by Fr. Inayat Bernard. Sharing his views Pir Shafaat Rasool said people remember those who work for the welfare and progress of humanity and not for the warfare and destruction of humanity. (Late) Blessed Pope John Paul II living in our hearts because he kept on struggling for the betterment of the people of the world regardless of discrimination and because of his dedicated efforts he is proclaimed to be a Saint. He also told, “During my recent visit to Vatican City I saw a big crowd of people around a mausoleum, I asked people about that and got to know that it is the mausoleum of St. John Paul II. I was amazed know that and his reverence increased in my heart.” He congratulated entire Christian community the proclamation of his Sainthood and extended wishes for Easter. While commenting about St. John Paul II Fr. Pascal Paulus O.P. said, “God’s Love is everlasting and this love He has been revealing to His people through various men and women who followed the way of the Lord and honoured as Saints. Similarly, 27th of April was a day of great blessings for the Universal Church as two great Popes, namely, Pope St. John XIII and Pope St. John Paul II were proclaimed Saints. These two men contributed a lot for the Church in the fields of justice and peace, harmony among the different religions, reconciliation in the Church and outside the Church, pastoral visits to the entire world, and faith formation of the people of our times. Indeed, we proclaim with great joys! Ah these are the Saints of our present time. In a special way we as Pakistanis have a great love our Pope St. John Paul II as he visited the land of Pakistan.” Explaining to participants about the services of St. John Paul II Fr. James Channan O.P said that we all are on one page today because of the remarkable services of St. John Paul II for the promotion of peace and building the bridges between the followers of different religions of the world. It is an honor for me that I am one of the Catholic priests who received his blessings in person. Muslims and leaders of other religions who expressed their views on during this special gathering were; Sardar Janam Sing, Sardar Jassi Sing, Bhagat Lal, Sohail Ahmed Raza, Rev. Emmanuel Khokhar, Rev. Dr. Marcus Fida, Pir S. A. Jafri, Professor Farooq Ahmed, Abdul Mustafa Sialvi and advocate high court Shabnam Nagi. They also greeted all the Christians for this glorious feast and expressed their best wishes. They appreciated Fr. Francis Nadeem and the entire team for carrying on the efforts for promotion of peace and interfaith dialogue, At the end Fr. Francis Nadeem thanked all the guests and organizing team of the exhibition.