Professors of National Catholic Institute Karachi Witness to the growing optimism for Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Multan

Multan, Pakistan: April 21, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)



The program was held on April 7, 2010 at Burewala, Multan.

“The message of Easter is for the whole world”, said His Excellency Dr. Bishop Andrew Francis, Bishop of Multan as he continued, “for Jesus Christ has conquered death by rising from the dead”. Emphasizing on the need of Christian-Muslim dialogue, he said, “We respect our Muslim brothers and sisters. We are all Pakistani and we love our country.” He appreciated the lawyers saying, “our lawyers are very bold and very trustworthy.”     



Chaudhary Mehmood Ghuman, the senior advocate and the president of Lawyers Association, said that some external elements are trying to divide Christians and Muslims in Pakistan. He affirmed as he said, “Christians do love Pakistan just as Muslims do, there are no differences. Through dialogue we can shun away all mutual misunderstandings”.      

Dr. Paskal Rober, the Dean of NCIT, referred to what Pope John  Paul II had said, “War in Iraq is the defeat of humanity”, basing his arguments on that he continued, “the Holy Father represented all those people who want peace and social harmony in this world. Our problems are common and our efforts to solve these problem should be also common. The biggest problem of today is not who is Muslim and who is Christian, the biggest problem that we all are facing is consumerism and materialism, he said.”

Rev. Fr. Riaz Ghosal was the chief organizer of the event with the cooperation of Mr. Javed Fahim, the former president of Lawyers’ Association, Burewala. The inter-faith forum was held at the bar room where 200 lawyers and 60 Christians had gathered together to participate and promote peace and social harmony. The professors of National Catholic Institute Karachi (NCIT) were warmly welcomed at the bar, among those present were Prof. Dr. Paskal Robert, the Dean of NCIT; Prof. Fr. Augustine Soares, the rector of Christ the King Seminary; Prof. Gerald Mal, Prof. Indrias Rehmat, the parish priest of Sacred Heart, Prof. Younas Shazad,  the rector of Dominican House, Prof. Saleem Amir, the rector of Fanciscan Friary, Prof. Patrick Samuel, the Guardian of Capuchin Formation House and Prof. Qaisar Feroz, the rector of Capuchin Formation House. His excellency, Dr. Bishop Andrew Francis introduced the professors of NCIT as Catholic Ulma-e-Ikram. 

         Mr. Javed Fahim acknowledged the efforts of Dr. Bishop Andrew Francis in promotion of inter-faith dialogue, peace and social harmony. He admired the dynamic and positive role of the Christians in the defense and the economy of Pakistan. Fr. Riaz Ghosal said, the religions are not supposed to divide us but they should be source of unity because all the religions are from God.”

The Christian delegation then visited Dar-ul-Aloom Madrasa Arbia Islamia, the biggest madrasa in the region, where they met Muhteem Maulana Alama Abd-al-Rauf Nomani. His excellency, Dr. Bishop Andrew Francis encouraged the management of the madrasa saying, “those who come to study in this madrasa”, he expressed his expectations, “they will become good citizens and lovers of peace and social harmony.”