It is estimated that about 1,500 Christians had to escape for their lives after their village, Chak 31, in the Pakistani province of Punjab was attacked by residents of the nearby Muslim village of Chak 30. The attack happened after the Christians were accused of being disrespectful towards Islam.
The Catholic news agency, Fides, said police did not intervene except in the case of one policeman who led a crowd of 60 Muslims in the attack.
In a separate attack, a Muslim murdered a 14-year-old Catholic boy in the Catholic village of Khushpur, sometimes known as the Vatican of Pakistan. The murder was related to a land dispute.
Call for recognition of religious freedom
Speaking on the occasion of the 1,700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone said: “Pope Francis is eager that the common witness of Christ’s disciples in Europe should help to spread the good news of salvation to the ends of the Earth...
“He calls on civil authorities everywhere, in the light of Constantine’s historic decree, to respect the right of believers to worship freely and to express their faith publicly.
“At the same time, he invites all European citizens to recognise the role that Christianity has played in shaping our culture and to remain open to the continuing contribution that Christian believers can make in this regard.”
Missio app launched
People wishing to receive Church-related news headlines on their smartphones can do so by means of an app introduced by the Vatican. Called Missio, the app provides free news headlines from Fides, the news service sponsored by the Congregation for Evangelisation, and from the Vatican news site, News.va.
Pope Francis launched the app on May 17. Both iPhone and Android platforms can use the app, which is available in eight languages, including English, Italian, and French.
Croatians pro-marriage
Close to 250,000 Croatians have signed a petition calling for a referendum to amend the country’s constitution and define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The pro-family activists aim to collect 450,000 signatures, or 10 per cent of voters. Government is against the move. It prefers to support legalising same-sex unions.
Bishops wary of drones
US Catholic bishops seem wary of the use of drones by the US administration to hunt suspected terrorists. Bishop Richard Pates, chairman of the US Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, raised ethical and moral questions over the use of drones.
He expressed his concern in a detailed two-page letter to Thomas Donilon, who chairs several House and Senate committees dealing with national security. Mgr Pates called for greater scrutiny of their use, adding that the US should “employ non-military assets to build peace through respect for human rights and addressing underlying injustices that terrorists unscrupulously exploit”.
Pope did not perform an exorcism
“The Holy Father had no intention of performing an exorcism, but he simply intended to pray for the suffering person before him,” said Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi in reaction to reports in the Italian press, quoting the TV station of the Italian bishops, that the Pope performed an exorcism when he spent a few minutes praying intently over a young man in a wheelchair at the end of Mass on May 19.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)