Pakistan’s bishops are considering asking Rome to declare slain Pakistani minister Shahbaz Bhatti as a martyr for the faith, reports LifeSiteNews.com. “Bhatti is a man who gave his life for his crystalline faith in Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, who made the proposal, in an interview with the Fides news agency. “It is up to us, the Bishops, to tell his story and experience to the Church in Rome, to call for official recognition of his martyrdom.” “I am sure that the Church, in her own time, may proclaim him a martyr,” said Archbishop Anthony Rufin of Islamabad, who presided over Bhatti’s March 4 funeral, according to Fides. The Catholic Bishops Conference of Pakistan will consider the proposal at their General Assembly from March 20-25. If he were declared a martyr, he could be beatified without the required miracle, though he would need one miracle that the Catholic Church could attribute to his intercession to be canonized, or made a “saint.” Bhatti, Pakistan’s only Christian government minister, was gunned down by Muslim extremists last Wednesday for his vehement opposition to the nation’s stringent blasphemy law. To read the full story, click here.
If you have an account
If you are a new user