Amid violence, Catholics in northern Pakistan plan quiet Christmas

(December 09, 2009) Catholics in northern Pakistan are preparing for quiet, scaled-back Christmas celebrations as militant attacks continue to terrorize the country. "Most of the scheduled programs are cancelled due to this situation," said Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore. The celebrations will be more of a family affair with little "pomp and display outside," he added. "This will be a silent Christmas. We shall discover the meaning of Christmas in a quiet way and hope for the return of harmony and peace," the archbishop told the Asian church news agency UCA News. The outdoor Christmas fair at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Faisalabad also has been called off. "The annual diocesan choir event formerly attended by thousands in the open cathedral compound will now be limited only to the cathedral building," said Father Khalid Rashid Asi, vicar general of the Faisalabad Diocese. "We are very cautious and all programs are being organized ... on a low scale."