LAHORE (AsiaNews): “Unity must be a visible thing in Pakistan. Instead of meeting only when a church is attacked or in crisis situations, we should meet in times of peace,” Father Inayat Bernard, from St. Mary’s Seminary, said in the run up to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

He said, “Church leaders still have many reservations about other denominations and not everyone feels comfortable in going to another Church.”

LAHORE (UCAN): The Railways and Human Rights Ministries in Pakistan ran a special train over the Christmas period to express solidarity with the minority Christian community and promote interfaith harmony.

State-run Associated Press Pakistan quoted unnamed officials as saying what they termed a special human rights train was the first rail service to celebrate a minority festival.

Lahore (UCAN): Dispersing fear in the wake of the bomb attack that shattered the peace of Easter Sunday on March 27 in the  Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, Pakistan, is a major part of the support work being done by Caritas for the victims (Sunday Examiner, April 10).

A Caritas programme is providing trauma counselling to those affected by the bombing.

LAHORE (AsiaNews): Leaders from the Islamic and Catholic faiths came together to lead an interfaith vigil in memory of the 76 people who died in the March 27 Easter Sunday terror attack in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 2.

Although it was claimed by the perpetrators that Christians were the target of the attack, in fact, only 17 of the dead have been identified as Christian and the bulk of the remainder are Muslim.

LAHORE (SE): As a sign that the attack on people gathered in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in the city of Lahore is an attack on all of Pakistan, candlelight vigils for the dead and wounded have been attended by people from all faiths and all walks of life.

Muslims, Hindus, Christians and other groups have joined hands in condemning the attack in the strongest possible way.