Pakistan: Catholic church leaders demand protection after threats from banned outfit

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 5 : Several Catholic Church leaders in Pakistan have demanded protection after banned group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi threats in the wake of the Quran burning incident in Sweden, last week which has sparked protests in several countries, Vatican News reported.

Citing UCA News Agency, it reported that an official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan said the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) has alerted authorities against threatening reactions from the banned group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

It calls for revenge by waging suicide attacks on Christians, and saying it will make Pakistan "a hell for Christianity".

The executive director of the Bishops' Commission, Naeem Yousaf Gill, said that the Church in Pakistan condemns the desecration of the Quran in Sweden.

"As a religious minority, we live in brotherhood and peace and have always supported the majority. We can't imagine violating sensitive laws," Vatican News quoted Gill as saying.

Earlier on July 3, Father Khalid Rashid Asi, Faisalabad diocesan director of the Commission for Interfaith Dialogue and Ecumenism met with police officials in the district's Madina Town a place home to nearly 4,000 Christians regarding the security concerns for Christians in Pakistan.

He also asked all priests in the diocese to contact their respective police stations for the security of their parishes, convents, schools and other departments.

Father Asi told the UCA news that the Quran burnings must stop.

"As humans", he said, "we must all respect the holy books and strive for a culture of peace and harmony," Vatican News quoted Father Asi telling Uca News.

He also recalled the 2009 anti-Christian surge in Punjab province, when the supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi attacked Christian homes killing 10 Catholics, following reports of desecration of a copy of the Quran, Vatican News reported.

Pakistani Christians targeted by terrorist attacks for over 20 years

According to Vatican News, Pakistani Christians are often used as "Western Agents" and have become the target of several terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

In the latest incident in Stockholm, an Iraqi-born Swedish citizen tore pages out of a Quran and burned them outside the Great Mosque of the Swedish capital on June 28.

The man was later arrested on charges of ethnic and racial hatred.

However, the desecration has set in motion a series of protests in several Muslim countries and has been condemned by the Swedish Council of Churches and Pope Francis.

On July 2, protestors gathered outside the press club in Karachi, urging the Foreign Office to summon the Swedish ambassador to lodge a formal protest, Vatican News reported.

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