Many Pakistanis believe bishop died a martyr,
but persecution goes on
By DENNIS CODAY
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
One year ago, on May 6, Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad,
Pakistan, stood outside a courthouse and shot himself in the head with a
pistol. His action -- widely understood as a protest against persecution of
Christians in Pakistan -- resounded through the country and echoed into the
wider world.
In Pakistan, Joseph is hailed as a martyr. His death is never
described as suicide -- an act condemned by the Catholic church --
but as a sacrifice on behalf of his people.
The very night he gave his sacrifice, people sent out
messages, first in the city of Sahiwal, later by telephones all over the
country, recalled Fr. Bonnie Mendes, a priest of Faisalabad diocese.
At once there were demonstrations, processions, rallies and the unanimous
slogan, Bishop John Joseph, martyr. For the people, he is no less
than that.
A few days before Joseph shot himself, a Christian man, Ayub
Masih, had been condemned to death at the courthouse for blasphemy against
Islam. His crime: He allegedly had spoken favorably of British author Salman
Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Muslim officials called for
Rushdies death in 1989, forcing him into hiding.
For Joseph, the persecution of Ayub Masih symbolized the plight of
all Christians in Pakistan. Masih -- a name given to all Christians in Pakistan
-- was the fourth Christian to be sentenced to death for blasphemy in that
country since the early 1990s. It was a use of religion by Islamic authorities
that amounts to purely political gimmickry, according to Peter
Jacob, executive secretary of Pakistans National Commission for Justice
and Peace. Three others had their convictions overturned by higher courts, but
death threats forced them into exile. Several Christians have been killed in
mob violence while awaiting trail for blasphemy charges.
Joseph said the charges against Ayub Masih had been trumped up to
force 15 Christian families out in a local land dispute.
Speaking at a rally in Vienna, Austria, in March 1998, one of his
last public speeches outside Pakistan, Joseph, summed up the sentiments of
Christians in Pakistan, had warned, We have had enough. We shall protest
in such a way that the world will be shocked.
Bishop Joseph Coutts, Josephs successor, said, For the
people, Bishop John is quite clearly a martyr, whether he is officially
accepted as one or not. In Pakistan, people saw his action as like that of a
mother who throws herself in the line of fire to save her child from being
killed, he said. The words of Ayub Masihs mother sum it up:
He died to save my sons life.
This popular sentiment is evident at the bishops grave
today. His gravesite in the compound at the Faisalabad cathedral has become a
shrine that pilgrims visit.
A calculated risk
Those who knew the bishop well deny speculation that he was
depressed or ailing.
He was of sound mind -- one of the most sound minds in the
Catholic church of Pakistan, says Mendes, who first met Joseph in 1956
when they were both seminarians. Mendes spent years struggling beside Joseph on
the peace and justice commission and many other projects.
Mendes describes the bishops suicide as a well thought
out calculated risk. I am sure he prayed over it for a long time. In the last
year or more, he kept saying, the time for sacrifice has come. You could say
that he was full of hope that his death would help highlight the sufferings of
the minorities internationally.
I think it became quite clear to him that now was the time
to give a big push and to do something dramatic, said Coutts, who studied
dogmatic theology under then-Fr. Joseph at the National Theology Seminary in
Karachi and in 1976 joined the seminary faculty when Joseph was dean of
studies. The two served together on the bishops conference of Pakistan
for 10 years.
In Lahore on April 7, 1994, at the funeral of Manzoor Masih
(another Christian charged with blasphemy who was gunned down outside the
courthouse while still on trial), Joseph publicly announced that he was ready
to die if necessary.
Mendes recalls the words the bishop preached at Manzoor
Masihs funeral: Bishop John said, Manzoor, we are sorry this
happened to you. If anybodys blood was needed, I should have been the
first. I shall shed my blood but will not allow the blood of my people to spill
in the country.
Mendes says that the bishops last public address, which he
faxed to a seminar to be held in Rome in conjunction with the Synod of Bishops
for Asia in March 1998, is significant. The last two paragraphs read:
I shall count myself fortunate if in this mission of
breaking the barriers, Our Lord accepts the sacrifice of my blood for the
benefit of his people. As St. Paul wrote, It makes me happy to suffer for
you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all
that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the
church (Colossians 1:24).
This is the only effective response to the ever-growing
phenomena of violence around us. Are we ready to take up the challenge and
follow him, carrying this cross on our own shoulder? Are we ready to drink the
cup of suffering to the bitter end as Jesus did? Each one of us has to
formulate his or her personal response. May the crucified and risen Lord give
us the courage to do so. Amen.
Coutts said that Joseph was always willing to back his words with
action. In 1992, for example, when Christian leaders were protesting throughout
the country against the governments plan to include religion on National
Identity Cards, Joseph announced that he was going to begin a fast unto death
in protest. It took the intervention of Archbishop Armando Trindade, president
of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan, to stop Josephs
fast.
A few days before his death, Joseph sent letters to friends,
colleagues, nongovernmental organizations and human rights groups inside and
outside of Pakistan and to local newspapers. The bishop called for Masihs
sentence to be overturned. He also urged united action to repeal the blasphemy
laws. He admonished people not to worry about about the sacrifices we
shall have to offer; dedicated persons do not count the cost. Eight days
later he was dead.
People disagree on whether Josephs sacrifice made a
difference.
Immediately afterward a groundswell of support for repealing the
laws emerged. Rallies, protests and agitations continued a couple months after
his death.
Four more cases
Since then at least four more cases of alleged blasphemy have been
recorded. And Ayub Masih is still in prison. Discrimination against religious
minorities continue. In September 1998, the government of Nawaz Sharif
introduced in parliament a constitutional amendment that would make the Quran
and Sunnah (the way of the Prophet Mohammed) the supreme law of the
land. The lower house approved it in October by a two-thirds majority.
Peter Jacob says that Sharif introduced the constitutional
amendment in a cynical ploy to shore up sagging popularity: Pakistan was
suffering under economic sanctions imposed after it exploded nuclear devices on
May 28, 1998, and the country was about to default on international loans.
Mendes said that if Joseph were here today he would be shouting
himself hoarse to change the current situation. So in this sense, Mendes said,
the loss is irreparable. Bishop John is not with us. We miss
him.
Coutts adds, The church in Pakistan needed Bishop John
Joseph alive, not dead.
Yet, in dying for a cause, he has brought about an awareness
of the sufferings of the Christian community that most Muslims were not
sensitive to. His death was a cry of pain, but also a defiant call to be ready
to die for justice and peace.
His death has become the reference point for continuing the
struggle for justice.
National Catholic Reporter, May 7,
1999
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