Pakistan’s Bishops ‘devastated’ by Catholic Cabinet Minister’s Assassination

(March 03, 2011) Pakistan’s bishops have condemned the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic who served as the nation’s federal minister for religious minorities. The gunman who ambushed Bhatti's car and shot down the government leader left a note saying that Bhatti was killed "for speaking out against the blasphemy law." “We condemn the assassination of the Catholic Minister for Religious Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti,” said Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, president of the nation’s Episcopal conference. “We are devastated and deplore this anti-life gesture. This is a perfectly tragic example of the unsustainable climate of intolerance in which we live in Pakistan. We call on the government, the institutions, and the whole country to recognize and take decisions about these issues, because there must be an end to this situation, where violence prevails.” “We are alarmed: it is the sign of the fanaticism that indiscriminately affects all those who are committed to the defence of truth, justice and peace,” added Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad. “He was a genuine, transparent person, of great courage. I had great respect for him. He knew he was in danger, but he would not pull back …We will pray for him intensely.” The Catholic Church of Pakistan has announced three days of mourning and strikes to protest the murder of the statesman. Accordingly, all institutions, schools, activities run by Catholics will be closed starting Thursday. The strike will be marked by moments of prayer and fasting. The President of the bishops expressed "solidarity with the family" and condemned in no uncertain terms "the abuses committed in the name of religion" in the country. Christian groups in India have condemned the murder of Pakistan’s Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti. The brutal assassination is symbolic of the chaos to which Pakistan is heading, said Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, who directs a human rights center in Ahmedadab, Gujarat, condemning the Bhatti’s murder in Islamabad yesterday.