ASIA/PAKISTAN - Catholic killed during pilgrimage: Christians demand justice

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - "We are deeply saddened by the murder of Afzal Masih. He was a devout Catholic who was participating in a Marian pilgrimage to venerate and pray to the Virgin Mary. Today, we express our deepest condolences to his family and, in this holy place, entrust his soul to the care of the Heavenly Mother," Father Tariq George, rector of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Mariamabad, a Christian village in the Archdiocese of Lahore, told Fides. The shrine celebrated the feast of the Virgin Mary from September 5 to 8 with the usual national Marian pilgrimage: over 500,000 faithful, including Catholics and Christians of other denominations, flocked to the shrine to honor and pray to Our Lady. Muslim and Hindu believers also participated in the large annual gathering. "This year, too, despite the torrential rains and floods, the faithful did not want to miss the encounter with Our Lady, to pray for her intercession and ask for grace," Father Qaisar Feroz OFM Cap, a priest from Lahore and spokesperson for the Pakistani Bishops' Conference, confirmed to Fides.
Just as he was traveling to the Marian shrine, on September 7, in a convoy with about fifteen other faithful, Afzal Masih was killed in the area of the city of Sheikhupura - 30 km from Mariamabad - by a man who was later arrested by the Punjab police.
Afzal Masih, 42, was a rickshaw driver, married, a father of four children, and belonged to the Catholic community of St. Alphonsus Parish in the Samanabad neighborhood of the Archdiocese of Lahore. According to the reconstruction of the local faithful, while he was traveling with other pilgrims from Lahore, several young men on motorcycles approached the minibus and began to provoke the group. An argument ensued, and when the young men saw the crosses and realized they were Christian pilgrims, they also began to insult Afzal Masih and the other believers. When the vehicle stopped at a gas station, one of them, later identified by police as Muhammad Waqas, opened fire with a rifle, fatally striking Afzal Masih in the neck and injuring his 16-year-old cousin, Harris Masih, in the arm. Afzal was taken to the hospital, where nothing could be done. After the murderer's arrest, Waqas stated during police interrogation that he "had no intention of killing." The Christian community hopes for a swift resolution of the case and demands justice.
The village of Mariamabad ("City of Mary"), founded by Capuchin missionaries in 1893, was later expanded to include the construction of a Marian grotto (in memory of Our Lady of Lourdes) and a shrine. Since 1949, the site has been declared a National Marian Shrine and a center of Marian spirituality for Christians from all over Pakistan. Every year, the Marian pilgrimage "Mela Maqaddasa Mariam" takes place, a moment of faith, prayer, and celebration dedicated to Our Lady. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 12/9/2025)

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violence

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