Christians Under Attack

The Christian group was gathered to watch a 1979 movie called “Jesus,” depicting the life of Christ when they were set upon by the extremists.

The August 12 assault on the church workers included a beating as well as a smashed projector before the police intervened, UCANews.com has reported.

According to Full Gospel Assembly members, no arrests were made for the brutal attack and public disturbance.

Now clerics have warned members of the Catholic Church that the attacks seem to stem from an incident that occurred a week before that the Muslim mob was not happy with.

A week before the attack, the local Catholic priest was interrogated for looking at Osama bin Laden’s compound, where the successful May 2 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader had taken place.

According to Father Akram Javed Gill, parish priest of St. Peter Canisius Church, he had taken a friend close to bin Laden’s compound and climbed a nearby house rooftop overlooking it.

“I learnt a lot from that experience. Christians cannot afford to get involved in risky situations, especially after the bin Laden episode,” he said.

The Archbishop of Lahore, Emeritus Lawrence Saldanha, warned the church workers to be more careful due to the delicate situation. The Catholic Church asked them to also be more careful about how they decide to express their faith publicly.

About 150 Catholics live in the city and just three in the Bilal town where bin Laden was killed.