“I quickly noticed that something was seriously wrong. Though the matchmaker had told me that my husband was a Christian, I never saw him praying or reading the Bible. He didn’t provide money for meals, and he often beat me. He even confessed that he had only pretended to be Christian in order to get me to marry him."
“On June 8, 2019, he went to work but did not come home. I was very worried, as he was never late. His brother helped me look for him. We went street by street but could not find him. The next morning, someone told us that he’d seen the body of Safdar Masih in the local hospital. He had been murdered."
"It is dangerous for me in Pakistan. I have never felt respected, and I have never been able to worship freely. My textbook says that Jesus Christ is not the son of God, and that Christians are idolaters: I have no hope for peace, or religious tolerance."
“We thank God that the family is now being reunited at long last. We pray to God that they will have a better future and can put behind them nearly 10 years of suffering. We thank God that justice has prevailed.”
Catholics are a small minority in Pakistan, making up slightly more than one percent of a population that is 96 percent Muslim. But even as a minority group facing abuse and discrimination, they practice and celebrate their faith.