Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has stepped in to fund the rebuilding of a church in Pakistan destroyed by militants after the government failed to deliver on its promise to provide compensation.
ACN agreed to a $38,500 plan to completely reconstruct St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Sukkur, in Pakistan’s Sindh province, following three years of government delay over its compensation pledge of spring 2006. The government’s promise of funding came just weeks after both St. Mary’s and the nearby St. Savior’s Protestant Church were burned by Islamists, who also broke into the buildings, smashed everything including statues, and even tried to break into the tabernacle.
Frustrated by continued government failure to provide the compensation, Bishop Max Rodrigues of Hyderabad has now spoken out against the authorities. In a letter to ACN, the charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, the bishop wrote: “The government made tall promises of restoring the churches as quickly as possible, but due to corruption and greed and red tape, very little was sanctioned and still less done.” Lamenting how three years later the church remains a ruin, he continued: “We feel ashamed to say that the charred rubble and dirt still lies in our church.”
Although technically granted the funds for rebuilding twice, the money never reached the Church. The funding was withdrawn on both occasions after rebuilding work failed to start within the specified time period – even though it was not the Church’s fault in either case. In his letter, submitted in support of his application for ACN help, Bishop Rodrigues wrote: “The money that had been sanctioned has lapsed twice and our people still celebrate the Holy Eucharist in the open air or the school hall.”
At the time of the atrocities, on February 19th, 2006, staff from ACN had just arrived in Pakistan, and they immediately offered to help rebuild the church after coming to visit it. Bishop Rodrigues, however, asked the charity to wait for the government’s compensation bid to come through before giving funding as necessary to extend the building to provide for a growing congregation.
The bishop described how thereafter ACN offered reconstruction aid on several occasions, adding that he turned it down in a bid “to force the government to rebuild the church as it promised.” It was only when he had given up on government aid that he finally accepted the charity’s help. He continued: “I am most grateful to Aid to the Church in Need for its strong human, moral and financial support for our aggrieved Sukkur People and Church when they most needed it.”
Both St. Mary’s Catholic Church and St. Savior’s Protestant Church, granite-built churches dating from 1889, were substantially damaged in the riots which were sparked by a rumor – later found to be untrue – that a Christian had burnt some pages of the Qur‘an. The attacks coincided with widespread anger across the Muslim world over cartoons published in the West depicting prophet Mohammed.
During the attacks, Franciscan Sisters at St. Mary’s almost lost their lives after the mob attacked their convent with gasoline bombs, setting fire to almost everything in the compound. Protestant pastor Rev. Ilyas Saeed and his family of eight children had to jump from a window in their home to escape the flames engulfing their home next to St. Savior’s Church.
In his letter to ACN, Bishop Rodrigues concluded: “This is a time of persecution for the Church but the Christians of Sukkur are holding true to their faith in spite of violence and intimidation.”
