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Bishop Anthony Lobo, spiritual leader of the Diocese of Islamabad, Pakistan, was in Denver June 29 to celebrate Mass at Most Precious Blood Church and give a talk about the state of Christianity in his native land.
Bishop Lobo told the people who attended the special dinner and program that followed the Mass that in a nation where the number of Catholic’s makes up only 1 percent of the total population, practicing one’s faith is a day-to-day challenge.
“Our mission is to promote the virtues of love, justice and peace,” Bishop Lobo told the audience. “It is a tough job, but nothing is impossible with God.”
The Christian population in Pakistan traces its existence to missionaries who arrived to the region 150 years ago. At that time, as today, the majority of the population was Muslim along with Hindus and Sikh. Converts came from the group known as the “untouchables,” those who were outcasts in their homeland but who found a message of hope in the missionaries.
Still, in a nation of 35 million people Christians — which comprise just 2 percent of the total population — 1 percent Catholic, 1 percent Protestant — remain the minority. Churches are scattered in remote locations across the diocese with parish priests often having to travel great distances to minister to their flock. And the threat of violence is always near.
Recently, a message was written on the wall of one of the churches that said the people in that parish had 10 days to convert to Islam or die. Bishop Lobo said that the people were overcome with panic and fear.
“The letter was signed, ‘Society of Bomb Blast Taliban,’” the bishop said. “The same people who had threatened video and CD stores, saying the proprietors were dealing in pornography.”
The Muslim owners of the stores weren’t dealing in pornography, but they did sell movies and music imported from western nations. After 10 days, all were bombed.
Bishop Lobo appealed to the local authorities, then to the interior minister and even the prime minister of Pakistan. Getting nowhere in his quest, he turned to the media and called a press conference, detailing the threats of violence against the Christian population. It received extensive media coverage from CNN, the BBC and Reuters. Suddenly, the government was anxious to help.
“The government is very sensitive to their image abroad,” Bishop Lobo said. “The day following the press conference, the police were sent to find out what the people wanted and look into this threat. An investigation produced a child who the police said wrote the message. The move was face saving, but calm has returned and those who were sacred off have returned.”
Asked if he feared for his life, Bishop Lobo said no.
“I think that the government would think twice about attacking a bishop who is already been on the world stage,” he told the Denver Catholic Register. “They know the international media is here and what the implications of something like that would do for their image.”
Religious freedom is an issue the Church continuously promotes. In the Denver Catholic Register last month, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., who just completed two terms on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, told the faithful to give the issue their ongoing attention. And on June 1, reported the Catholic News Service, Pope Benedict XVI, in welcoming new ambassador to the Vatican Ayesha Riyaz of Pakistan, urged that nation to protect the rights of minorities “to live, worship and perform works of charity,” and to safeguard them from intimidation and “acts of violence.”
Bishop Lobo travels around the world, discussing the challenges that Catholics face in his country. His recent stop in Denver was part of a trip that took him to Rome, New York and Washington, D.C. He said that even though the audiences he talks to hear about dangerous conditions, his message remains one of love.
“I want people to pray for us,” he said. “I am a powerful believer in prayer. That kind of solidarity, especially from around the world, is very effective. We ask that everyone pray for the transformation of that society to make it more like the kingdom of God.”
