Pakistan’s cardinal-elect warns of growing extremism in his country

June 27, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Karachi, Pakistan, Jun 27, 2018 / 01:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of tomorrow’s Vatican consistory, Pakistani Archbishop Joseph Coutts sees his upcoming elevation to the rank of cardinal as a sign of papal concern for a country coping with the heightened presence of extremist groups.

Archbishop Coutts of Karachi will become cardinal at a June 28 consistory at the Vatican, alongside 13 other prelates representing the global Church and a variety of Vatican offices.

In an interview with CNA ahead of the ceremony, Coutts warned that his country is facing the threat of growing extremism from those pushing for a strict Islamic state.

The general atmosphere of religious freedom encapsulated in the nation’s founding has been eroded and now faces new threats from more radical strains of Islamic thought seeping into the country, he said.

“Many of our imams are now going to Saudi Arabia to study theology, and are coming back preaching against music and dancing, which is forbidden in Wahhabi Islam.”

Wahhabism, a severe school of Islam founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and centered in Saudi Arabia, was identified by the European Parliament in 2013 as the primary source of global terrorism.

Even the increase in suicide attacks in Pakistan can be traced back to this influence, Coutts said, noting that suicide is forbidden in Islam generally.

“But they justify it in the name of religion,” he said. “If you say my religion is the best religion and all the other religions are not good, then I justify myself in using force or violence, whatever it is, to get rid of the other.”

The majority of Muslims in Pakistan are moderate, Coutts said, explaining that the extremists only make up about 5 percent or less of the total population.

“There are Muslims who say, ‘We have no problem with democracy, it does not clash with Islamic thinking, and that’s why we are a democracy’,” he said. But the extremists “don’t accept democracy, they don’t accept the international declaration of human rights, they say it’s not Islamic.”

“We’ve always had these kinds of people on the fringes, but they weren’t dominant,” he added. “Now they are becoming more assertive.”

Asked whether he believes Pakistan could become an Islamic state, Coutts said the possibility is real, but depends on several factors, including pressure from more radical Islamic nations such Saudi Arabia.

However, if the country, which is holding general elections July 26, begins to shift in that direction, “it means leading to a lot of clashes, because there are many who don’t want it to be that way,” Coutts said.

“If these guys keep pushing their agenda, you’ll reach a point of clash. Somebody will push back.”

The Catholic Church in Pakistan is a leading presence in works of charity and has long spoken out on behalf of minority rights, condemning persecution, specifically related to the country’s anti-blasphemy law, which Coutts said is very easily manipulated.

Ultimately, though, he said the Church’s role in the nation is limited by its size. “What role can you have when you’re two percent? There’s a saying that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers.”

Coutts, who has served as Archbishop of Karachi since 2012, will be Pakistan’s only cardinal after tomorrow’s consistory.

Being made a cardinal will not have much practical effect on the Church’s role in the country, he said. But what the red hat does signify is Pope Francis’ concern for Pakistan and the Christian presence in the nation.

“It’s an honor for the country,” he said, noting that Pakistani Muslims, who generally have a positive view of Francis, feel the same way, and have voiced their appreciation and asked when a papal visit might take place.

“It shows the respect for the Holy Father that people have. They consider him a very good, moral leader, a religious leader who is promoting peace and understanding. They have high respect for him.”

 

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Related Articles

No Picture
News Briefs

This secular Franciscan lived among lepers. Could he become Zimbabwe’s first saint?

September 26, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Harare, Zimbabwe, Sep 26, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- British-born John Bradburne, who died in Zimbabwe 40 years ago, could be on his way to becoming the country’s first canonized saint.

Bradburne is a revered figure among the Catholic community in the landlocked southern African country of Zimbabwe. According to reports, Bradburne was shot in the back after he was abducted from his hut in Mutemwa in the north-east of Zimbabwe.

Who was he?

Born in 1921 to Anglican parents in Cumbria, England, Bradburne converted to Catholicism in 1947 while living with Benedictine monks, after he had a religious experience during World War II.

He lived after his conversion as a pilgrim, shuttling between England, the Middle East and Italy, living out of one bag. He was a prolific poet.

Bradburne joined the Secular Third Order Franciscan in 1956.

He later made contact with Fr. John Dove, a Jesuit friend living in Zimbabwe. Bradburne asked whether there was a “cave in Africa” where he could pray. Dove encouraged him to move to Zimbabwe, where he arrived in 1962.

In Zimbabwe, he told a Franciscan priest the three desires of his life: “to serve leprosy patients, to die a martyr, and to be buried in the Franciscan habit.”

In 1969, seven years after his arrival in the country , Bradburne’s desire to care for leprosy-afflicted patients was fulfilled, when he was appointed the lead caretaker at Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement, a center that cared for leprosy patients.

Bradburne spent hours with patients. He rose at 3:00 each morning, and washed patients, bandaged them, ate with them, and talked with them. Some of them he carried to Mass. But he clashed with leaders at the center over the conditions in which patients lived, and eventually, he was fired.

He was allowed to live in a deserted single-roomed tin hut in the settlement compound.

His house had no running water, but he was glad to be within the vicinity of the lepers, whom he continued helping in whatever way he could.

During Zimbabwe’s civil war, which lasted from 1964 until 1979, Bradburne protected the lepers from exploitation, something that raised suspicion, especially, locals say, because he was a foreigner, and his motives were frequently suspect.

Locals became hostile towards him, but he refused offers from other Christians to take him to safety.

Bradburne died on Sept. 5, 1979 when he was shot dead at age 58.  He was buried in the Franciscan habit, as he had hoped to be.

During his burial, three unexplained drops of blood were found below his coffin, reports say.

For his compassion toward the afflicted, Bradburne has been called the “Damien of the 20th century” in reference to St. Damian of Molokai who cared for lepers in Hawaii.

“He did a good thing, and that is what it is about. The love the lepers continue to have for him, because of his sacrifices, is truly astonishing.” Kate McPherson of the John Bradburne Memorial Trust told reporters in July.

In an interview with BBC, Fr Fidelis Mukonori who worked closely with the Bradburne recalled his friend’s account of living with lepers, “From the day I set my eyes on these people, I discovered I am also a leper among my own people.”

“Working for and with them I feel appreciated, that I am doing something good and they call me Baba [Father] John,” Mukonori remembered Bradburne telling him.

“He arrived with few possessions, only love,” Colleta Mafuta, 78, a leprosy survivor who knew Bradburne told BBC.

“The colony was filthy and the people were dirty. There was no medication, no clothes and people went hungry. He took care of everyone’s needs – feeding people, and washing and bandaging our sores,” she added.

According to Independent Catholic News, two people have claimed miraculous cures through Bradburne’s intercession: a woman in South African who regained the use of her legs, and a man in Scotland cured of a brain tumor.

On July 1, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved initial investigations into Bradburne’s sainthood cause. On Sept. 5, Archbishop Robert Ndlovu of Harare celebrated a Mass at Mutemwa where Bradburne served, to mark 40 years since his death and to officially launch his sainthood cause.

 

A version of this story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s African news partner. It has been adapted by CNA.
 

 

[…]

1 Trackback / Pingback

  1. Pakistan’s cardinal-elect warns of growing extremism in his country -

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*