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Also, Fr Patras ought not to refer to a suicide as a “sacrifice”, although suicide may be part of the culture over there. A Pakistani bishop killed himself in protest several years ago.
Reading these stories about attacks on Christians in India, Pakistan & elsewhere I’ve wondered what I would do – are you still a martyr if you’re killed while running for your life? Cursing your attackers?
Catholic’s suicide case sparks three-day protest
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (UCAN) — Christians held a three-day protest over a Catholic who died after setting himself ablaze in despair after his wife was allegedly tortured by police.
Rashid Masih, a father of four, died in hospital on March 22, four days after dousing himself in kerosene and setting himself alight.
Church sources here say he was overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness after his wife, a housemaid, was charged with stealing from a Muslim cinema manager in Rawalpindi and tortured by police in front of him.
Their version of events contradicted reports in the secular Italian media and L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily, which said the man had been burnt to death by a Muslim.
God have mercy on this poor man, he needs our prayers.The mourners chanted anti-Punjab government slogans, demanding “payback for the blood” and the arrest of those they blamed for the death.
“We are not against anyone but demand justice,” Father Anwar Patras, parish priest of Holy Family Catholic Church, told the funeral gathering.
Father Patras called for ecumenical unity in the case. “Rashid’s sacrifice has provided us a stage where we can all unite,” the priest said at the funeral.
Also, Fr Patras ought not to refer to a suicide as a “sacrifice”, although suicide may be part of the culture over there. A Pakistani bishop killed himself in protest several years ago.
Reading these stories about attacks on Christians in India, Pakistan & elsewhere I’ve wondered what I would do – are you still a martyr if you’re killed while running for your life? Cursing your attackers?