The Portal March 2019 | Page 19

THE P RTAL March 2019 Page 19 Aid to the Church in Need Education is of ‘prime importance’ for the Church in Pakistan Josué Villalón reports W ith thousands of illiterate Christians working in slave-like conditions across Pakistan, Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need is supporting Church leaders trying to break the poverty trap there. Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in north-east Pakistan, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference spoke of the vital significance of education for Catholics families. Referring to impoverished Christians being unable read or write, he said: “Education is of prime importance. Many people cannot continue their education, either because there are no schools or no money. Our community has to have access to education. When Christians are educated and have had professional training, then the image of our community will change.” In southern Pakistan’s Hyderabad diocese, Bishop Samson Shukardin is helping indigenous people. He said: “More than half of the parishes in the dioceses are engaged in work among the tribal groups of Parkari Kolhis, Kutchi Kolhis and Bheels... they are marginalised minorities, traditionally working as share-croppers for landowners to whom they are virtually always in debt.” With a number of indigenous people having become Christian, the Church’s 19 catechists now include tribal members helping 13 priests in the diocese. Bishop Shukardin said: “[The catechists] try to convince the parents to make a sacrifice, though not at all easy, and send their children to one of our central or one of our many two-teacher village schools.” He added: “The illiteracy rate among them is high… the Church is active among them with catechesis, faith-formation, education and awareness. Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi (© ACN) our Catholic schools if in their neighbourhood or otherwise to other schools so that they can get an education. As a result of all this work there now are now growing Christian communities of the tribal groups and a rising of the literacy rate among them which means that more and more of them can get better employment.” ACN is also funding the printing of an additional 80,000 copies of its Child Bible in the Urdu language. Speaking of the importance of the Child’s Bibles, Father Emmanuel Asi of the Catholic Bible Commission Pakistan (CBCP) in Lahore said: “Hundreds of thousands children will benefit from the services The charity has supplied a vehicle to transport of CBCP… by bringing the Word of God closer to Catholic families long distances on dirt roads for children.” The charity is also providing assistance to classes at Hyderabad’s parish centre or Joti Pastoral make educational Christian programmes for children Educational Cultural Centre in Mirpurkhas – and on Catholic TV Pakistan. students travel in temperatures of up to 48ºC (118ºF) Aid to the Church in Need - www.acnuk.org to get to classes. Bishop Shukardin said: “The parents contact: [email protected] or call 020 8642 8668 are encouraged to send their children to school, either Regular home visitation is a very important part of the pastoral outreach, which gives the opportunity for hearing their stories, some catechesis, the celebration of the Eucharist and the singing of Christian hymns in their language.”