In July 2013, Shagufta and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Catholic couple in Mian Channu, a small town 250 kilometres south of Lahore, Pakistan, were arrested on false charges of blasphemy. After eight years on death row, separated from each other and from their four children, they were finally released on June 3, 2021, by the Lahore […]
Tributes have been paid to a Christian minister who was killed on Sunday, 30th January in Pakistan after dedicating his life to persecuted and other suffering Christians. Gunmen on motorbikes shot William Siraj in the head and chest as he was driving away from Sunday service at a church, outside Peshawar city centre. Also in […]
Following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement of the establishment of a new body called the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Authority (RAA) (“Mercy for all the Worlds”—a phrase from the Koran, liberal Muslims and Christian activists have been expressing their concern over). The goal of this new body is to ensure the implementation of the teachings of Muhammad in […]
Churches across Pakistan have stepped up security in response to the threat of terrorist attacks following the Taliban’s return to power in neighbouring Afghanistan. At a meeting of Catholic and Protestant leaders, senior clergy agreed to tighten surveillance and beef up armed protection, especially at Sunday services. The move comes amid concerns that the Taliban’s […]
Pakistan: “The lives of victims accused of blasphemy are forever threatened and many have been killed.” In 2019 the UN General Assembly proclaimed August 22 as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. According to the report “Religious Freedom in the World” by the international charity Aid […]
ACN provides a vehicle to enable pastoral work in the parish of Saint Peter in Multan Father Javed Khurshid, the parish priest, is still a young priest. Ordained 12 years ago and still serving today in the diocese of Multan located in the southern Punjab region of Pakistan. His parish, Saint Peter’s, lies on the […]
An ACN program providing new hope to young Pakistani women and equipping them to fight for a better future Life for Christians in Pakistan is not easy. As members of a religious minority, they are frequently victims of discrimination and social exclusion. The majority of Christians belong to the poorest classes of society and include […]
A Christian couple in Pakistan on death row for seven years, was acquitted in a landmark judgment, Thursday, June 3. Shagufta Kausar and her husband, Shafqat Masih, from the Punjab town of Gojra, were sentenced to death in 2014 for allegedly sending a local imam blasphemous text messages insulting the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. But in […]
Recently, the homes of 450 Catholic families in Hyderabad and Karachi were destroyed as part of an anti-encroachment drive by the Sindh provincial government—targeting homes considered to be illegal settlements.
A fresh initiative is about to be launched to tackle Pakistan’s growing crisis of Christian and Hindu girls who are being abducted and sexually abused.
