Persecuted Pakistani Catholics Organize in Scotland

GLASGOW, Scotland, Nov. 25, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Pakistani Catholics in exile in Scotland have founded «Voice for the Voiceless,» a support network in Glasgow for «the forgotten victims» of sectarianism, the Scotsman newspaper reported.

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«Blasphemy laws are a major problem,» said Asif Mall, a spokesman for the group. Children as young as 12 are awaiting execution in Pakistan on blasphemy convictions, he added.

Further, as the Pakistan Christian Post reports, Islamic militants have attacked Christian churches, a school, a hospital and other Christian organizations in the past year. In the most recent of these events, authorities initially charged a Christian boy with the crime, relenting only after exonerating evidence was given by the only other survivor of the assault.

As Father Gerry Nugent of Glasgow said of the new group: «We want to speak to our community, our neighbors and religious leaders, and get word to Christians in Pakistan, to let them know they have a voice.»

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