Pakistan: A flourishing future for priestly vocations
St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Lahore (Pakistan).
According to news agency Fides on May 4, 2016, 23 ordinations of diocesan or religious priests have taken place since 2015 in Pakistan, and 15 new deacons are preparing for ordination in 2016.
In the National Institute of Theology in Karachi (south-western Pakistan), 79 seminarians are studying, and in St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary of Lahore (north-eastern Pakistan) there are 96. “These numbers promise a flourishing future for the Catholic Church in Pakistan, without overlooking the numerous vocations in the female religious orders,” Fr. Inayat Bernard, rector of the Minor Seminary of Lahore, told Fides. He believes these numbers are “a sign of hope, infusing confidence and courage, even amid difficulties.” There are plenty of the latter in a country that is 95% Moslem. “Terrorism strikes blindly at religious, civil and military targets,” the priest observed. However, these trials “do not attack our liberty and the faith of the population, but reinforce them, and today we are enjoying their fruits.”
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Fides – DICI no. 337, 17/06/16)
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