Pakistan high court upholds forced marriage of abducted Catholic minor
Webmaster • October 31, 2020
Pakistan high court upholds forced marriage of abducted Catholic minor
The Sindh High Court in Karachi, Pakistan, has validated the marriage of a 13-year-old Catholic girl to a Muslim man who abducted her.
Arzoo Raja had been taken from outside her home on October 13 and two days later, as the family searched for her, police announced that they had received marriage papers claiming that Arzoo was 18 and that she had converted to Islam to marry her 44-year-old abductor, Ali Azhar.
The family were able to provide the authorities with an official birth certificate proving Arzoo was 13, and they sought legal representation from Aid to the Church in Need to challenge the marriage’s validity The Church in Pakistan has also protested the similar cases of Huma Younus and Maira Shahbaz, two other Catholic teenagers who were abducted by Muslim men and subject to forced conversion and marriage which the courts validated. Younus, now pregnant with her abductor’s child, was kidnapped aged 15 in October 2019 and, according to a petition by persecution.org, is currently “imprisoned in a single room in her captor’s home”. Meanwhile, 14-year old Maira Shahbaz was taken at gunpoint in April of this year but later managed to escape. Aid to the Church in Need have launched a campaign to grant her asylum in the
UK because she is currently in “immediate danger” and is “hiding from extremists. (Catholic Herald)
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The Burial of Jesus In the past, a widow's hope is on her own children. But Jesus' Passion and Death meant Our Lady's 'only Son' was taken away from her. His Last Word: ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ which made the most sorrowful Mother's whole body trembled in the bitter pain of her heart, still present and fresh in her ears whenever she thought on this cry. Watching Him buried in the cold tomb, how much tears she must have shredded when bidding her final farewell, and how many 'final glance' at her Son she would have took, to a point that she would willingly to be placed alive in the grave with Him! We can imagine this pain as if her heart was torn into pieces, and everything seemed to be lost... How many times had we or saw others vent anger on God during our sufferings? Or falling into depression due to the miseries in lives? But our dear Mother, although in inexpressible anguish, was in peace and had unshaken fortitude. Why? Because of her 'fiat', her total abandonment to God's Will, her perfect faith in the Almighty God. Since she knew that everything had happened according to His Will and could not have happened unless He had allowed it. So she thanked God for everything, thus within her sadness there was even some joy, because she saw that Jesus had, in his great love, wanted to suffer this much for the sins of mankind. Jesus' Sacrifice redeemed our souls and brought us our salvation. And Mary, also loves us so, united her sufferings with her Son's and took part in the Work of Salvation. Not only that, she kept this sorrow within her heart and remained on this earth to be a witness of God's Love for all until her Assumption. May this Lent be a time that we re-examine our relationship with God, a time of realisation of how much He has done for us, and a time to begin to tell our neighbours how much He Loves us! (Reference: The Prophecies and Revelations of St Bridget of Sweden)
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Almighty ever-living God, who as an example of humility for the human race to follow caused our Saviour to take flesh and submit to the Cross, graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering and so merit a share in his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Sunday 27th April St Albans Church , Cardiff Confessions 2pm – 4pm 2.30pm Blessing and Veneration of the Image 3pm Divine Mercy Chaplet & the Three o’clock Prayer