Low-key Easter preparations for Pakistan's Christians

 

Credit: Reuters/Naseer Ahmed

By Kamran Haider

Sun Apr 24, 2011 1:03am BST

GOJRA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Christians in the small Pakistani town of Gojra are making low-key preparations for Easter this year.
Residents of the neighbourhood, known as Christian Colony, in the town in Punjab province, are haunted by memories of a 2009 attack by a Muslim mob in which seven members of a family were killed and dozens of houses torched.

A few days before Easter, which Christians believe marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion, bare-foot children played cricket in the town's dusty alleys while some men chatted on a bench under a tree.

"If we celebrate it with a fanfare, we fear somebody might get annoyed and attack us," said Khalid Anjum, 45, the owner of a small snooker hall.

The only sign of the approach of Easter was a few young men rehearsing hymns in St. Mary's Catholic Church.


Full story: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/04/24/uk-pakistan-easter-idUKTRE73L2SM20110424

7 wounded in bombing outside Baghdad church

Iraqi Christians have faced a recent wave of violence

By SAAD ABDUL-KADIR

 

The Associated Press

 

updated 4/24/2011 9:54:15 AM ET 2011-04-24T13:54:15

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi police official says seven people have been wounded by a roadside bomb outside the entrance of a Baghdad church.

The official says the blast took place Sunday just yards (meters) from the Sacred Heart Church in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood. Shrapnel from the bomb struck the outside of the building.

The officer said no parishioners were inside and services had not been held in the building.

Four policemen and three civilian bystanders were wounded.

Full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42738043/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/