The Episcopal Conference of Pakistan came together for its General Assembly at Multan, Pakistan from March 20-25 and looked at the proposal to forward to the Holy See an official request to declare Shabaz Bhatti a martyr.
As you may have read recently, he was gunned down in Pakistan, a victim of violence against Christians in that country. He was the Minister of Minorities for the Pakistani government, and a devote Catholic, the only one in the national government, we are told.
According to Bishop Andrew Francis, bishop of Multan and president of the Episcopal Commission for Interreligious Dialogue in Pakistan, “Bhatti was a man who gave his life for his crystal clear faith in Jesus Christ. It is up to us, the bishops, to point out his story and his experience to the Church of Rome and to ask for an official recognition of his martyrdom.”
A few weeks ago, Bhatti said, “Pray for me… I cannot and do not want to turn back in this labor. I will combat extremism…. for the defense of Christians even unto death.”
Source: L’Avvenire.
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