Sunday Schools for Children in Pakistan

The Holy Spirit Parish is the largest parish in the Archdiocese of Lahore in Pakistan. It includes 67 villages, many of which are far from the parish center. The parish priest, Father Akmal Patras, was determined to create opportunities for Catholic children in more remote villages to participate in Bible and catechetical study sessions.

Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we were able to contribute $12,539 so that a Sunday school program could be established in five of these villages. About 250 children, aged 7 to 15, can now learn more about the Scriptures and the Catholic faith with their peers.

This was crucially important, since Christian children who attend state-run schools in Pakistan must follow Islamic religious instruction to obtain the credits needed to advance to the next school level. And standard Pakistani textbooks contain false information about religious minorities, so Christian students, along with members of other minority groups, face prejudice and even hatred from their teachers and classmates. “Many of the Christian children feel inferior, and they end up abandoning school,” Father Akmal explains. And because almost every Christian parent in the area is illiterate, they cannot teach the faith. So the Sunday school program helps the children’s self-confidence and enables them to effectively respond to any questions or insults they face.

Our heartfelt thanks to all of you for helping to establish these schools in Pakistan. May God bless you!

Code: 328-01-49