Pakistani church official says U.S. wars led to attacks on Christians

Published: 2004-05-25

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (CNS) -- Violent attacks against Christians in Pakistan are a relatively new phenomenon caused by the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Pakistani church official said. Peter Jacob, national director of the Pakistani bishops' justice and peace commission, said social discrimination always has been a fact of life for Pakistani Christians, but he attributed an upsurge in killings and other violent attacks to the U.S.-led wars in Islamic countries. "Christians in Pakistan remain very vulnerable to terrorist attacks and hate crimes," Jacob told Catholic News Service May 22 during a break at the Pax Christi International conference at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

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