Pakistan Christians appeal to pope to make Shahbaz Bhatti, a martyr

(March 03. 2012) A year after Shahbaz Bhatti’s assassination, March 2nd , initiatives are multiplying in Pakistan, to keep his memory alive. Bhatti, 42, a Catholic and Minister for Religious Minorities of the Islamabad government, was shot 30 times on March 2, 2011. His main "crime" was his opposition to the anti-blasphemy law, for which another Pakistani Christian, Asia Bibi -- whose defense Bhatti undertook publicly -- was, and still is, sentenced to death. According to the Fides agency, the Asian director of Amnesty International, Sam Zafiri, has accused the Pakistani government of remaining inert in face of the escalation of violence and Muslim fanaticism, of which both Christians and Muslims are victims. Shahbas Bhatti wrote in his spiritual testament: "I want to serve Jesus, as an ordinary man" and "I want to live for Christ and I want to die for Him." And he stressed that he had refused important administrative posts in order not compromise his principles. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Paul Bhatti, brother of the murdered Minister and special adviser of the Pakistani Premier, said that he was hopeful, despite the genuine siege to which Christians are subjected in their country." In the meantime, the Pakistani Episcopal Conference is awaiting a response from the Holy See about the request to begin the procedure to declare Shahbaz Bhatti a martyr of the Christian faith.