Pakistani Bishops considering Bhatti as Martyr

(March 08, 2011) Pakistan’s Catholic bishops are considering the submission of a formal request to the Holy See to officially recognize Pakistan’s minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti as a martyr, according Fides news agency. The Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference, which will meet March 20-25 for its general assembly in Multan, will examine the proposal to the Holy See for the declaration of Bhatti's martyrdom. Armed Islamic extremists riddled 42-year old Catholic minister, Shahbaz Bhatti with bullets on March 2 as he left in his car after a visit to his mother in Islamabad. The lone Christian member of the cabinet was murdered for his opposition to Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws, which make insults to the Quran an offense punishable by up to life imprisonment and call for the death penalty for anyone convicted of insulting Mohammed. Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, president of the bishops’ Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, who drafted the proposal, affirmed that "Bhatti is a man who gave his life for his crystalline faith in Jesus Christ." He added, "It is up to us, the bishops, to tell his story and experience to the Church in Rome, to call for official recognition of his martyrdom." "We are in pain, but we maintain great hope: Bhatti gave his life for his faith," he added.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue who knew Bhatti personally also testified to his exemplary witness of faith. Speaking at Rome’s Pontifical University Antonianum on Friday the cardinal recalled Bhatti telling him in confidence, "I know that I will die murdered, and I offer my life for Christ and for interreligious dialogue." The spiritual head of Anglican Christians worldwide, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury has also called Shahbaz Bhatti a "martyr", and urged the Pakistan Government to do more to protect its minorities. Writing in London's Times, Archbishop Williams said Bhatti was a martyr, and that Pakistan was being blackmailed by extremists.