Orthodox Church Of Pakistan condemned Peshawar incident

Orthodox Church Of Pakistan condemned Peshawar incident

Fr. Cyril and the orthodox church community condemned terrorists’ attack on mosque in Peshawar Phase 5 Hayatabad. Targeting innocent worshippers during Friday prayers is a coward act.

we all demands to the government, calling for a fair and thorough investigation of incident and protect religious places
 orthodox church of Pakistan Community  condemn this human tragedy that occurred, and also condole with the families.

Church “grows” in Islamabad

Administrator of our community in Islamabad has shared these pictures of extensions to his residence (sitting room) where services are held for the St John Chrysostom Parish. These extensions will allow more room for the faithful to gather for services, bible study and to meet together as Orthodox Christians. Ayub Joseph is the lay leader and administrator of the parish which is visited regularly by Father Cyril Amer from Sarghoda to serve the Divine Liturgy for the community.

Christianity in Pakistan (THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY IN PAKISTAN)

Introduction

Contrary to popular thought, the history of Christianity in Pakistan does not start from the 19th Century but around 52AD upon the arrival of St Thomas the Apostle, making it’s origins back to the time of the foundation of the Church on earth.

According to Holy Tradition St. Thomas the apostle came to Pakistan in the city of Taxila a city 35 KM away from the Islamabad (the current capital of Pakistan).

Tradition states that St. Thomas the apostle came to Taxila as an architect, and was admired for his skills in this field. The local king was also impressed by his honesty and skills and requested the Apostle to oversee the construction of the palace. After giving all the responsibility and the expenses for the completion of the palace the King left for vacations.

St. Thomas had enough money to complete the work for the King, but when the king left he decided a different use for the money. Instead of building a palace for the king, he distributed all the money among the poor.

Returning from his vacation and not seeing any progress on the requested palace building works, St Thomas was summoned to the King. The Apostle informed the king what had been done with his money and that his palace had been built for him in heaven. St Thomas was then thrown in jail for a long period but was subsequently released and travelled to India to continue his mission work.

The Community of Faqirs in Pakistan

There is a “Faqir” community in the province of Sindh in Thatta. It is believed that this community traces it’s origin back to the times of St Thomas the Apostle and has therefore been present for almost 2000 years.

The Taxila Cross

According to the epigraphically evidence Taxila Cross was found in 1935 in the fields near the site of ancient of city of Sirkap. This cross was later presented to Anglican Bishop of Lahore. The Taxila Cross is kept at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection Lahore (Anglican Church of Pakistan)

Conclusion

While many church historians talk about Christianity in Pakistan only from the arrival of foreigners from the 19th Century onwards there is clear evidence in the form of Taxila cross as well as the Holy Tradition of the Church that the faith was spread from the times of the Apostles. The ancient faith is now alive and well in many areas including those through the efforts of the Archangel Michael Mission in Pakistan

Protest against Delhi church attacks

Police in the Indian capital, Delhi, have detained dozens of people who were protesting against recent attacks on churches in the city.

There have been five attacks on churches in Delhi since December.

Christian groups accuse hardline Hindus of carrying out the attacks, but police say there is little evidence for this.

Some protesters have accused India's Hindu nationalist BJP government of not doing enough to reassure the city's Christian minority.

Thursday's protest came after a church in Delhi was vandalised on Monday, and an unexplained fire gutted another in December.

Protesters carrying placards reading "Enough is Enough, What are police doing?" gathered outside the city's main Catholic Sacred Heart Cathedral in central New Delhi.

Police said the protesters were detained as they were marching towards the residence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh in a high-security area where protests are not allowed

"They have no permission to protest on the road. They can't just march to the home minister's residence. We have to protect the homes of VIPs,'' senior police officer MK Meena told NDTV news channel.

Father Jolly, one of the protesters, told BBC Hindi that the attacks on churches was making Christians "feel very unsafe".

"The prime minister is still silent on the issue. In the backdrop of these attacks, he should come forward and issue a statement. He should give us confidence."

Police say that they have provided security to more than 200 churches in the capital.

On Monday, unidentified people broke into a church in north Delhi and desecrated holy objects, reports said.

In December, hundreds of Christians protested in the capital after a Catholic church was burnt badly in a fire.

The police initially blamed the fire on faulty wiring saying it had been caused by a "short-circuit", but after protests by the Christian community, they registered a case against unnamed people.

Divine Liturgy at St. Sergius Orthodox Parish Sargodha, Pakistan

Divine Liturgy at St. Sergius Orthodox Parish Sargodha, Pakistan