Faisalabad, Pakistan, Aug 3, 2010 / 00:56 am
Over 2,000 people took part in a march in Pakistan to mark the first anniversary of some of the country’s worst anti-Christian violence. A leading police official admitted to marchers that security forces had failed to protect Christians, while some prominent Muslim leaders said they deplored the violence.
In August 2009 a mob of several thousand Muslims looted and burned a Christian neighborhood in Gojra city in Punjab province. Eight people died in the violence.
Some of the most prominent local Muslims addressed the marchers, describing the perpetrators as unworthy of being called Muslims. They denounced the crimes as being against the precepts of the Koran.
Bishop of Faisalabad Joseph Coutts presided at the memorial Mass on Sunday at Gojra’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church, ACN News reports. The bishop lit candles for each of those who died in the violence.