PAKISTAN: Church-run school burned down in suspected terrorist attack
Episcopal News Service. November 6, 2009 [110609-06]
Matthew Davies
A historic girls' school run by the Church of Pakistan was burned to the ground Nov. 3 in what is suspected to be the latest act of terrorism against the Christian minority in the predominantly Muslim country.
All three buildings at St. Denys' School in Murree were set on fire during the afternoon, causing damage estimated at one billion Pakistani rupees (US$1.2 million), according to reports. The school has about 200 students and 52 teachers and staff.
"All the children and staff were rescued and shifted to the diocesan retreat and renewal center," said Bishop Alexander John Malik of the Diocese of Lahore in a Nov. 4 email to church partners. "The reason [for] this sad and shocking incident is still to be determined but the act of terrorism cannot be ruled out."
Built in 1882, the school is run by the Diocese of Lahore, which is part of the Church of Pakistan, a united ecumenical province of the Anglican Communion. The church was established in 1970 with a union of Anglicans, Scottish Presbyterians (Church of Scotland), Methodists, and Lutherans.
The incident comes just two weeks after the Church of Pakistan's synod, meeting a few blocks from St. Denys' School, stressed its concerns about the ongoing persecution of Christian minorities, especially following the August attacks in Gojra, where nine Pakistani Christians were burnt to death by an Islamist militant mob.
A blasphemy law in Pakistan's penal code has been used by extremists to justify violent attacks, such as those in Gojra.
"The recent tragedy of Gojra ... has raised yet again the whole issue of the status and security of the religious minorities in an overwhelmingly Islamic country like Pakistan," said a statement from Church of Pakistan synod. "This incident has highlighted in a very painful and tragic way, the experiences of Pakistani Christians, who so often are victimized under the false pretext of either having desecrated the Holy Quran or insulting the holy Prophet of Islam. Such cases have become rampant during the recent decades as the Pakistani society has become increasingly intolerant of fellow Pakistanis, based on their religious identity."
The Rev. Canon Patrick P. Augustine, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, attended a partners-in-mission meeting that formed part of the synod.
"We learned that the Church of Pakistan is facing a terrible situation for its survival as professing and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord," said Augustine. "The churches have been attacked and Christian homes burned; the blasphemy law has terrorized them like a sword hanging over their heads 24/7.
“The government has issued orders that if Christians want to open their churches and schools, then their buildings need to have high walls with barbed wire on top. In addition, they must have security cameras and armed guards to protect them,” Augustine continued. “The costs of such security measures are prohibitive for many churches and schools to remain open to minister as Christian institutions."
Augustine said he learned that young Christians face difficulties finding employment and that many poor young girls are forced into prostitution. "It is an alarmingly difficult situation for the Christian community in Pakistan," he said. But throughout his visit, he "learned that [the] faith of the church is strong and God is using churches as witnesses of love, healing, and forgiveness in this extremely hostile, militant environment."
Malik visited New York in early September to meet with officials of the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church and the National Council of Churches. He has spoken out against such attacks at home, pressing the government for a judicial inquiry into recent mob violence.
In his Nov. 4 email, Malik requested prayers during "this time of great stress and shock."
In August, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote to the moderator and bishops of the Church of Pakistan assuring them of the Episcopal Church's "ongoing prayers and attention concerning the ever-changing situation" in the South Asian country.
The Presiding Bishop, also in August, signed a petition -- sponsored by the Anglican Communion's Network for Inter Faith Concerns (NIFCON) -- that called on the government of Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy law.
At the 76th General Convention, the Episcopal Church expressed its "solidarity with the Church of Pakistan and the whole Christian community in Pakistan..."
The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the communion's main policy-making body, at its May 2-12 meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, passed a resolution (14.24) remembering people in places of conflict and injustice everywhere, especially in Pakistan, "where blasphemy laws allow persecution … of Christians, and encourage religious extremism."
The ACC encouraged the provinces of the Anglican Communion "to support prayerfully and practically fellow Christians and all who live in situations of conflict, hostility and injustice." The resolution also called upon the provinces "to pursue, with their governments and all other parties, the end of these and all other conflicts and injustices."