Priest: Pakistan Short on Religious Freedom

Tuesday, 21 August 2007 22:08

LAHORE, Pakistan, AUG. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Christians in Pakistan still face persecution for their faith, despite the Pakistani founding father's dream of religious freedom, said Father Emmanuel Asi.

Pakistan celebrated 60 years as an independent republic Aug. 14.

Father Asi, the chairman of the Theological Institute for Laity in Lahore and secretary of the Catholic Bible Commission of Pakistan, spoke with the group Aid to the Church in Need on that day.

Christians make up only 1.5% of the 167 million Pakistanis. According to Father Asi, they are often treated as second-class citizens, denied basic human rights and victimized by social discrimination and political oppression.

Father Asi contended that the vision of Ali Jinnah, the "father of the Pakistani nation" has been "darkened." Jinnah dreamed of a country in which all citizens were equal and, regardless of their religious faith, lived above all as free Pakistani citizens, the priest stated.

In reality, Father Asi said, religiously motivated aggression can "at any time" bring about "every imaginable kind of problem" for Christians.

ZE07082104 - 2007-08-21