Introduction. The visit was organised under the auspices of the Oxford Diocesan Committee for Inter-faith Concerns by the Reverend Alwin Samuel, its Adviser and inter-faith worker. This initial report is written primarily for ODCIC and may be supplemented at a later date when there has been time to gather recollections from all those who took part.
Membership. In addition to Alwin Samuel, the party consisted of three members of ODCIC, the Chair of Wycombe Sharing of Faiths, two clergy from Oxford and four lay people from East Oxford, High Wycombe and Reading. Our programme fell into three main categories: inter-faith work, ecumenical activities and the work of the Diocese of Raiwind.
Inter-faith Work.
1. Visit to the Badshahi Mosque (capacity 100,000) and discussion with the Imam, a leading government appointee. Involved with the United Religions Initiative (URI). Much involved in Muslim-Christian dialogue.
2. Visit to Nankana and the Birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Warmly welcomed and fêted. Little discussion.
3. Evening meeting and dinner with the Ahmaddiyah community, a heterodox sect not regarded as Muslim within Pakistan. High level discussion on a one-to-one basis with individual members of the group.
4. Visit to a 1,200 place madrassa. Young men and boys chanting the Qur’an. Discussion with the Imam and a Mulana. Concerned about good Muslim-Christian Relations.
5. ‘Dialogue’ at Diocesan Headquarters involving talks by the Imam and the Mulana from the madrassa plus Ann Bowker, Hugh Boulter and Bishop Samuel. No questions or discussions.
6. Visit to two Sufi shrines. Made unwelcome at the first (Baba Shah Jamal) where there was to be Sufi dancing. Police escort at the second (Data Ganj Bakhsh). Thousands of devotees. Electric atmosphere, although peaceful in the mosque itself.
7. URI dinner. Hosted by a Christian doctor (see UCH below) with former Foreign Minister present. Importance of Christian community to politicians.
Ecumenical Visits
1. Visit to a part-built Pentecostal church in a poor part of Lahore funded by a £10,000 grant from a local Muslim benefactor. Police presence.
2. Visit, after Nankana, to Sangla Hill, site of severe Muslim-Christian violence two years ago. Stood alongside the Catholic priest and local Muslim leaders as a sign of solidarity. Media coverage. Heavy police escort.
3. Visit to the United Christian Hospital (UCH) in wealthy part of Lahore. Former beacon of Christian medical work, now in advanced state of decay. Dr Benjamin trying to resurrect but capital costs colossal.
4. Visit to Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). Met lawyers and victims of blasphemy laws. Deeply disturbing. Alwin Samuel Chair of CLAAS UK.
Diocese of Raiwind
1. Worship. David Barton celebrated communion for Candlemas in the chapel of St Peter’s School the evening of our arrival, attended by the Diocesan clergy and the Oxford group. On Sunday the group split up and attended three different churches. David Barton, Philip Ind and Jonathan Sewell preached.
2. Education. We visited St Peter’s School (English medium) on the Diocesan compound as well as the Urdu-speaking school, the school for the mentally challenged (Dar-ul-Mussarat) and St Peter’s College for Women (giving special tuition to enable women to gain access to higher education). At Raiwind (in the country some 35 miles out of Lahore) we visited the English medium school and the Urdu medium school and also the off shoot of Dar-ul-Mussarat. We heard of the Diocesan scheme to tutor young Christians to gain access to the Civil Service. We visited a ‘village school’ in the outskirts of Lahore, one of twelve such schools, mostly rural, set up to help pupils in poor areas.
3. Youth Work. We had an evening with the Diocesan youth team and with lively presentations from young people themselves.
4. Social projects. We visited a rehabilitation centre for women, some of whom had been forced into prostitution. The centre offered medical check ups, education about HIV/AIDS and assistance in helping the women to find alternative employment. Also the Talitha Kumi Centre where the women had been the victims of domestic violence, rape and abuse. The Centre offered conciliation and legal advice to help the women to resolve their family difficulties.
5. Diocesan Staff. We had discussions with Bishop Samuel and members of his staff about the challenges facing the Diocese.
Three Themes: Mission, Funding and Security
1. Mission. In conversation with Bishop Samuel, it was clear that the Diocese saw its mission first to bring more Christian families into church life and secondly to reach out to the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society: women who had been abused or forced into prostitution, bonded labour on the brick fields, poor rural communities and the mentally challenged. All the projects we visited had an element of Muslim involvement, as well the Christian. The Diocese also seeks to strengthen the place of Christians in Pakistani society through youth work and encouraging young people to enter higher education and the civil service. Dialogue with Muslim leaders to try to encourage good relations between Christians and Muslims.
2. Funding. The Diocese of Raiwind is 60% self-supporting. +Samuel aims for 100%. St Peter’s School, which is favoured by well-to-do Muslims, is used to generate income to support work amongst the poor and disadvantaged. Plans to develop an income-generating guest house in half of the Bishop’s residence. UCH (see above) is desperately trying to raise funds to keep going. Is this a search for nostalgia? Does it need a radical re-think? Some activities such as the work with the mentally challenged and CLAAS seem to attract overseas funding more easily. The funding of the Pentecostal church (see above) is an interesting example of Muslim philanthropy which the church members see as an opportunity for real Christian-Muslim dialogue.
3. Security. Pakistan is a highly volatile society as we saw at Sangla Hill and also in the Sufi shrines. Religious outbursts are not far below the surface and on at least four occasions we had a police presence. It is also a litigious society, most notably demonstrated by the work of CLAAS but also seen in the Bishop’s own experience (falsely accused of murder) and by the occupying of the proposed Dar-ul-Mussarat building in Raiwind. Christians, and other minorities such as the Ahmadiyyahs, feel under constant threat from the Muslim majority and, indeed, the Muslim majority also feel under threat from extremists.
Conclusion
The most remarkable aspect of our visit was the extraordinary range of contacts which we were able to make. This is both a credit to Alwin but also an indication of why he is so successful in his work in the Oxford Diocese. There is always the temptation to answer aggression with aggression, and we saw a number of Christians who fall into the trap of answering anti-Christian discrimination with anti-Muslim stereotyping and abuse. To love one’s neighbour in this context requires great faith and clarity of vision. It is a vision which is shared by Alwin and +Samuel but not all those whom we met. We were indeed blessed to have had such insights into the challenges which face Christians in Pakistan.
David Barton
Hugh Boulter
