Christian not feeling safe in Pakistan. By Nazir S Bhatti

After broad day light murder of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer by his bodyguard in Islamabad and threatening marches by Islamists in Pakistan have created feeling of insecurity among millions of Pakistani Christians.

The undue support of lawyer fraternity to killer of Salman Taseer and slow pace of investigation in this high profile murder of a leader who was a strong man of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party have confused poor Pakistani citizens in particular.

There was murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto in Karachi but his sister Benazir Bhutto was unable to bring her brother’s killers to justice during her premiership. Benazir Bhutto was martyred in Rawalpindi and her husband being President of Pakistan from two years is unable to disclosed her wife’s killers. There is continued episode of murders in PPP leadership but non is punished. The PPP leadership also not seem serious in investigation of assassination of Salman Taseer, who acted to highlight moderate and enlighten Islam agenda and met Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, sentenced to death on accusation of blasphemy.

The PPP leadership not dared to take stand on his commitment but took U-Turn on blasphemy law repeal issue to prolong their rule in Pakistan.

What a country, Pakistan is? The Chief Minister of Punjab remains absent from funeral services of Chief Executive of his province on threats of Islamic elements who issued decree that Governor Salman Tasser is “Murtid” after commenting on blasphemy law and Muslims should not participate in funeral of Murtid. The head of Pakistan Peoples Party and President of Pakistan Asif Zardari not bothered to attend last rituals of his dedicated party leader. It seems as “Stay in Rule” is only motive of political parties and Pakistani leaders, for which humanity is on sale also.

The Pakistani Christians were surprised on silence of Federal Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti after his appointment from Pakistan Peoples Party PPP. There were always directives from President House in print and electronic media for Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti like “Go to Gojra” “Go to Sialkot to visit family of martyr Danish Robert” “Go to Lahore to help murdered housemaid Shazia” “Go to Karachi to meet raped Christian Student Nurse” which created impression that Federal Minority Ministry is run from President House not by Shahbaz Bhatti. We see a big change in statements of Shahbaz Bhatti now, he is put on helm to face blasphemy law saviors while Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani have openly announced not to amend or revise blasphemy laws.

The Prime Minister and President of Pakistan have disowned private bill submitted in national assembly secretariat by PPP leader Sherry Rehman and she is under constant life threat after murder of Salman Taseer, then what’s game of PPP to encourage Shahbaz Bhatti to issue statements to revise blasphemy laws.

Why PPP government not presented revision in blasphemy laws in draft of 18th Amendment when scraped other laws legislated by military ruler Zia-ul-Haq? Why demand of millions of Pakistani Christians was not considered who have been complaining on misuse of blasphemy laws since 1986?

After murder of Salman Taseer and threats to Sherry Rehman from extremist Muslims, common Christian in Pakistan is so fearful that he is thinking to fled from Pakistan.

Turkish EU Minister Visits Assyrian Orthodox Church in Istanbul

Turkey's State Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis visited Virgin Mary Assyrian Orthodox Church in Beyoglu district in Istanbul on Sunday.

Bagis said that Turkish citizens of Assyrian origin had always worked for Turkey and its development.

Bagis said that Turkey was passing through a different and brand new era and the country was getting stronger.

Turkey had the 6th largest economy in Europe and it had the potential of the fastest growing economy in Europe, he said.

"Our Assyrian brothers and sisters are also pleased with development and transformation in Turkey," he said.

Bagis said that they would improve reform process and democratization in the country.

Metropolitan Bishop of the Assyrian Orthodox Church Yusuf Cetin said that representatives of all political parties visited the church ahead of the general elections. "But State Minister Bagis visited us two years ago. He was the first minister to visit us," he said.

"We always pray for our country's unity, development and for the world peace," Cetin said.

Iraq Assyrian Killed After $100,000 Ransom Demand

Iraqi insurgents killed and mutilated a Christian construction worker whom they had kidnapped over the weekend and demanded $100,000 in ransom for, police and medical officials said on Monday.
Ashur Issa Yaqub, a 29-year-old Chaldean Christian, had been snatched on Saturday in the oil-rich ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk, and is survived by his wife and three children.
"A police patrol found the body of the young Christian man, his head was almost completely cut off," said Kirkuk provincial police chief Major General Jamal Taher Bakr, adding that he believed Al-Qaeda insurgents were behind the gruesome killing.
Provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul confirmed the details, and added that the body "carried traces of torture and the bites of dogs".
A local police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Yaqub had been found with his head "almost cut off fully, his legs and arms tied together, and his clothes covered in blood."
The kidnappers had demanded $100,000 for Yaqub's release. The average daily wage for a construction worker averages to around 25,000 Iraqi dinars ($21).
Kirkuk, the capital city of the eponymous oil-rich province, is at the centre of a tract of disputed territory claimed by central government authorities in Baghdad and Kurdish regional authorities in Arbil.

Queen of Heaven

The Crowning of the Virgin by the Trinity. Velázquez, 1645

Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Christians, mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in the Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches, to whom the title is a (disputed) consequence of the Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, where the Virgin Mary was proclaimed "theotokos" ("God-bearer," "birthgiver of God" or the "one who gives birth to God" among other translations), a title rendered in Latin as Mater Dei, "Mother of God".

The Catholic teaching on this subject is expressed in the papal encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam,^[1] issued by Pope Pius XII. It states Mary is called the Queen of Heaven because her Son, Jesus Christ, is the King of Israel and heavenly King of the Universe. In the Hebrew tradition, the mother of the king is the queen (see queen mother). Catholic dogma (Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus) states that the Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.^[2] The title Queen of Heaven has long been a Catholic tradition, included in prayers and devotional literature, and seen in Western art in the subject of the Coronation of the Virgin, from the High Middle Ages, long before it was given a formal dogmatic definition status by the Church. For centuries, Catholics, while reciting the Litany of Loreto were already invoking Mary as "Queen of Heaven".

The Eastern Orthodox churches does not share the Catholic dogma, but has itself a rich liturgical history in honour of Mary. The themes include the annunciation of Mary's transition into heaven through angels, the gathering of apostles around the dying virgin Mary, the funeral procession, the empty tomb and, Mary in heaven.^[3] The Orthodox also have a history many of which originate in the Liber de Transitu Mariae (Book of the transition of Mary) dating to the end of the fourth century^[4]

Early Protestantism and leading reformers such as Martin Bucer, Johannes Brenz and Bullinger accept Mary's existence in heaven as self-evident as a matter of faith.^[5] Johannes Oecolampadius considers Mary as neck of the Mystical Body of Christ and Queen of all Heavenly Powers^[6] Martin Luther, in a 1522 sermon at the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, states that she is there, but refuses to discuss how she got there, because of an absence of scriptural proof.^[5] In the following theological developments within Protestantism, Marian veneration was largely rejected. Mariology, "a foreign object to Protestant theology, became a means of teaching differences.^[7] In the light of this context, the question of Mary as Queen of Heaven was not even raised.

The relation between the Christian title and similar pagan cults is one reason why the Protestant Churches usually avoid such titles as "Queen of Heaven".^[8] A related reason is that the only Biblical use of the title "Queen of Heaven" is in Jeremiah (7:18; 44:17ff) denouncing the idolatrous worship of Ashtoreth. There is Scriptural warrant, however, for the Marian title "Queen of Heaven," in the richly allegorical passage in Revelations 12:1 about the pregnant "woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" who gave birth to a "son ... who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre" in the face of the dragon, who was cheated of his prey. The Protestant Churches avoid building doctrine on the Revelation allegory.

Queen of Heaven is a title of Mary, which stimulated veneration expressed in theology, literature and liturgies such as the Liturgy of the Hours, music and art. Since the Council of Ephesus, pictoral presentation of Mary were encouraged, which resulted in numerous presentations of Mary as Regina throughout the ages. Cities in Italy and elsewhere proclaimed the Queen of Heaven to be Queen of Siena, Massa Marittima, San Gimignano as well as Poland and the State of Bavaria^[9]

Pope Benedict XVI noted that Mary's acceptance of the divine will is the ultimate reason she is Queen of Heaven. Because of her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth."^[10]

The title Queen of Heaven was also used in antiquity by various religious systems. In particular, it was used by the prophet Jeremiah, probably in reference to Asherah, a goddess worshipped as the consort of Yahweh in ancient Israel and Judah and in the Temple of Yahweh in Elephantine in Upper Egypt. (see Book of Jeremiah, 7:18 and 44:17). The Hebrew title (מלכת השמים) Malkuth haShamayim appears in the Book of Matthew and Jewish apocryphal writings as βασιλεια των οὐρανων ("The Kingdom of Heaven") which may also be read either as "the Queen of Heaven" or the "Kingdom of Heaven".

Catholicism

Rubens The coronation of the Virgin Mary

According to Catholic doctrine, Mary was assumed into heaven and is with Jesus Christ, her divine Son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, her only Son, but also because God the Father has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of the eternal salvation of humanity. The papal encyclical Ad caeli reginam, argues that as Christ, because he redeemed humankind, is its Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin Mary is Queen, on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in the redemption of humanity by giving of her own substance, by freely offering him by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, human salvation.^[11]

Quotes:

• the main principle on which the royal dignity of Mary rests is without doubt her Divine Motherhood. In Holy Writ, concerning the Son whom Mary will conceive, We read this sentence: "He shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end," and in addition Mary is called "Mother of the Lord"; from this it is easily concluded that she is a Queen, since she bore a son who, at the very moment of His conception, because of the hypostatic union of the human nature with the Word, was also as man King and Lord of all things. So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: "When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.".^[12]
• Mary was chosen as Mother of Christ in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race; As Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because, as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam.^[13]

Mariological basis

A series of articles on Roman Catholic Mariology
General articles Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology • Mariology of the saints • Mariology of the popes • Encyclicals • Marian Societies
Devotions Rosary • Scapular • Immaculate Heart • Seven Joys • Seven Sorrows • First Saturdays • Acts of Reparation • Hearts of Jesus & Mary • Consecration to Mary
Dogmas and Doctrines Mother of God • Perpetual virginity • Immaculate Conception • Assumption • Mother of the Church • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix
Expressions of devotion Art • Hymns • Music • Architecture
Key Marian apparitions (approved or worthy of belief) Guadalupe • Miraculous Medal • La Salette • Lourdes • Pontmain • Laus • Banneux • Beauraing • Fátima • Akita

Queen of Heaven (Latin Regina Caeli) is one of many Queen titles used of the Virgin Mary. The title derived in part from the ancient Catholic teaching that Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was bodily and spiritually assumed into heaven, and that she is there honored as Queen.^[14]

The first Mariological definition and basis for the title of Mary Queen of Heaven developed at the Council of Ephesus, where Mary was defined to be the Mother of God. The Council fathers specifically approved this version against the opinion, that Mary is "only" the mother of Jesus. Nobody had participated in the life of her son more, than Mary, who gave birth to the Son of God.^[15]

Litany of Loreto

The Litany of Loreto includes several supplications to Mary as Queen. There are two types of statements about the Queen of Heaven.

• Some refer to the Virgin Mary as theological statements about her queenship.
• Others indicate more specifically her realm of influence of the virgin as queen of heaven.

Queen conceived without original sin

Queen conceived without original sin refers to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, a long held belief which became dogma in 1854. It definitively solved the question, how Mary, fully human and in need of redemption like everybody else, was granted the fullness of God's grace from her very beginning. The dogma teaches, that Mary, the Mother of God, participated from before her birth in the holiness of God through his grace. She did not become a goddess but being without sin, the spiritual mother and new Eve.^[16]

Queen assumed into Heaven 

This is the reason she is Queen assumed into Heaven. To Catholics, assumption into heaven refers to the elevation into the heavenly realm, where the saints are with God and his son.^[16] Queen assumed into heaven is thus an indication, that Mary's service to the human race was not concluded with the birth of Christ, but continues for all eternity in heaven.^[16]

Queen of the Rosary

As Queen of the Rosary, Mary lets the faithful participate in her life with Christ^[17] The rosary is a prayer for faith, hope and love, who were all perfected in the Virgin Mary.

Queen of Peace

To Christians Christ is peace. They pray: "May the peace of Christ be with you" Mary is Queen of Peace, because she aided in the reconciliation of humanity with God like nobody else. With the fullness of her person she aided the entry of peace into this world. She is also considered Queen of Peace, because throughout her life, she lived by God's will and not her own. Peace in the Catholic tradition means to do God's will.^[16]

Queen of the Angels

In the Catholic tradition as reflected in the Litany of Loreto, angels are messengers of God; angels also praise God. As Mother of God, Mary is more than a messenger and in her Magnificat she praises God. In the heavenly kingdom Mary is seen as Queen of the Angels.

Queen of the Patriarchs

In the Old Testament, patriarchs have a exceptional relation to God. Abraham is even seen as father of the faith (Gen15,5 Rom 4 Hebr 11,8) In the Litany of Loreto, God is not only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also the God of Mary. Only Mary had the complete faith for which she was considered blessed (Luke 1,45)^[16] With the title Queen of Patriarchs, the Catholic Church states the continued relevance and position of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament.

Other titles

For similar reasons, Mary, because her prophetic pronouncements in the Magnificat is Queen of Prophets. She is Queen of Apostles, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Virgins, and Queen of all Saints .^[18] As Ever Virgin and immaculate Mother of God who was assumed into heaven, she is closer to God than any other creature^[16]

In the classic Roman Catholic Mariology book The Glories of Mary, the author Saint Alphonsus Liguori called the Blessed Virgin Mary the "Gate of Heaven", relying on the writings of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, another Doctor of the Church. ^[19]

Feast of Queenship

Coronation of the Salus Populi Romani by Pope Pius XII in 1954

Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the Pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22.

The movement to officially recognise the Queenship of Mary was initially promoted by several Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon France, Freiburg Germany, and Einsiedeln Switzerland. Gabriel Roschini founded in Rome, Italy, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, Pro Regalitate Mariae.^[20] Several Popes had described Mary as Queen and Queen of Heaven, which was documented by Gabriel Roschini. Pope Pius XII repeated the title in numerous encyclicals and Apostolic Letters, especially during World War II^{[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]}

Veneration

The Catholic faith states as a dogma, that Mary is assumed into heaven, and is with Jesus Christ, her divine son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of eternal salvation. The encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam argues, that Christ as redeemer is Lord and King. The Blessed Virgin is Queen, because of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest.^[28] Mary was chosen Mother of Christ so she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race; The Catholic Church always venerated the queen of Heaven, according to Pius XII, as

From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.^[29]

Queen of Heaven in the Liturgy of the Hours

Crowned statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in the hermitage church of Warfhuizen, Holland, dressed for October.

There are four ancient Marian antiphones, which express the queenship of the Virgin Mary. They are prayed daily in different times of the year as a part of the Liturgy of the Hours. Salve Regina, Ave Regina Caelorum, Alma Redemptoris Mater, and, Regina Caeli.

Salve Regina

Main article: Salve Regina

The Queen of Heaven is praised in the Salve Regina (Hail Queen), which is sung in the time from Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the vernacular as a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Hail Holy Queen is the final prayer of the Rosary. A German Benedictine monk Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054) allegedly composed it, and originally it appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of the Catholic Church until Vatican II. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. These are often used as spoken prayers. In the Middle Ages, Salve Regina offices were held every Saturday^[30] In the 13th century, the custom developed, to greet the Queen of Heaven with the Salve Regina, which is considered the oldest of the four Marian antiphons. Several Protestant reformes strongly objected to the Salve and the title Queen of Heaven. As a part of the Catholic Reformation, the Salve Regina was prayed every Saturday by members of the Sodality of Our Lady, a Jesuit Marian congregation.

Ave Regina Caelorum

Main article: Ave Regina Caelorum

Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven) is a early Marian antiphon, praising Mary, the Queen of Heaven It is traditionally said or sung after each of the canonical hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. The prayer is used especially after Compline, the final canonical hour of prayer before going to sleep. It is said from the Feast of the Presentation (February 2) through Wednesday of Holy Week. It used to be sung at the feast of the Assumption of Mary. Ave Regina Caelorum dates back in a different musical intonation to the 12th century.^[31] Today's version is slightly different from a 12th century intonation. The Ave Regina Caelorum has four parts: Ave, Salve, Gaude and Vale ( in English: Hail rejoice, farewell). It was used for processions in honour of the Queen of Heaven.^[32] Ave Regina Caelorum received numerous musical versions, a famous of which was composed in 1773 by Joseph Haydn.^[33]

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Main article: Alma Redemptoris Mater

Coronation of Mary by Fra Angelico

Alma Redemptoris Mater ("Loving Mother of our Savior) ", is recited in the Catholic Church at compline only from the first Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (February 2). Continuing theological discussions exist as to the origin and excaxt timing of this Marian antiphon. It has two equal parts. The Virgin Mary is loving Mother of the Savior, ever virgin with a very high position in heaven. May she listen to her people with mercy in their need for her help. Alma Redemptoris Mater,^[34] The Latin text is rather short:

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli,

Porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,

Surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti,

Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem

Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore

Sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.

Regina Coeli

Main article: Regina Coeli

Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) is an anthem of the Roman Catholic Church which replaces the Angelus at Eastertide (from Holy Saturday until the Saturday after Pentecost); it is named for its opening words in Latin. Regina Coeli was subject of numerous intonations throughout the centuries by known and unknown composers. Not all attributions are correct however, as an often quoted Regina Coeli by Joseph Haydn had other authors.^[33] Of unknown authorship, the anthem was in Franciscan use in the first half of the 13th century. Together with three other Marian anthems, it was incorporated in the Minorite Roman Curia Office, which the Franciscans soon popularized everywhere, and which by order of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280) replaced all the older breviaries in the churches of Rome.^[35]

Biblical Basis

Mary crowned with stars. A reflection of the biblical image in Revelation 12. Statue by Attard

In the New Testament, the title has several biblical sources. Mary is mother of the messianic king. Luke 1:32 says of Jesus, He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end. It is therefore held in Christianity, that the throne of King David has passed to Jesus. The biblical precedent of ancient Israel is that the mother of the king becomes the Queen Mother.^[36] Since Jesus is heavenly king, of the lineage of David and Solomon, many see Mary as Queen Mother.

The Roman Catholic Church also sees Mary crowned as queen in heaven in the Book of Revelation 12, verses 1-5: "1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads."

Giacomo di Mino, 1340-1350

For Catholics, the reference to the ark of the covenant immediately prior to this passage(chapter 11, verse 19)confirms the woman's identification with Mary as she is seen as the ark of the "new covenant" bearing the Word of God (Christ) in her womb as the old ark carried the Ten Commandments. Catholics interpret Psalm 45, "A Song Celebrating the King's Marriage", refers to the Messiah, to suggest in verse nine, that Jesus, the Messiah, would have a queen at his right hand. Although Mary was Jesus' mother, she is often portrayed as that queen. Other views are that Psalm 45 refers to the marriage of Jesus to His people – i.e., the church which is called the "Bride of Christ" or that Psalms 45 is simply a celebration upon the marriage of an earthly king, giving thanks to God but not referring to the Messiah. It is also believed by those assigning a special significance to Mary, and believing in her Annunciation, that in Luke 1:26-35 of the New Testament the Archangel Gabriel seems to praise Mary, although she would otherwise be inferior to him.

The Catholic Church generally reasons, that the bible speaks of the mother of Jesus as: "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" - (Revelation 12:1). As Mary is a perfect model of the Church, she also represents the Church as a whole.^[37] However, non-Catholic Bible scholars interpret these verses to be not referring to Mary, but rather to Israel or Judah. The Bible generally refers to nations and tribes as female characters, as in Matthew 2:18 & Revelation 17. And since Jesus is the Alpha and Omega(Revelation 22:13) and through Him all things were created(Colossians 1:15-17), Mary is not considered to be the Queen of Heaven. This is still a controversial subject in Christianity, not accepted by all denominations.

In the Old Testament the term "queen of heaven" appears in a context unrelated to Mary. The prophet Jeremiah writing circa 628 BC refers to a "queen of heaven" in chapters 7 and 44 of the Book of Jeremiah when he scolds the people for having "sinned against the Lord" due to their idolatrous practices of burning incense, making cakes and pouring out drink offerings to her. This title was probably given to Asherah a Caananite idol and goddess worshipped in ancient Israel and Judah.^[38] For a discussion of "queen of heaven" in the Old Testament, see Queen of heaven (Antiquity).

Queen of Heaven in art

Main articles: Coronation of the Virgin and Roman Catholic Marian art

Earliest known (6th century) Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina (Saint Mary the Queen), Santa Maria Antiqua church, Rome.

Early Christian art show Mary in an elevated position. She carries her divine son in her hands, or holds him. After he ascended into heaven, he reigns in divine glory. Mary, his mother, assumed into heaven by her son, participates in his heavenly glory.

The earliest known Roman depiction of "Santa Maria Regina" depicting the Virgin Mary as a Queen dates to the 6th century and is found in the modest church of Santa Maria Antiqua (i.e. ancient St. Mary) built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum. Here the Virgin Mary is unequivocally depicted as an empress.^[39][40][41] As one of the earliest Roman Catholic Marian churches, this church was used by Pope John VII in the early 8th century as the see of the bishop of Rome. Also in the 8th century, the Second Council of Nicaea decreed that such pictures of Mary should be venerated.^[42]

In the early 16th century, Protestant reformers began to discourage Marian art, and some like John Calvin or Zwingli even encouraged its destruction. But after the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century confirmed the veneration of Marian paintings for Catholics, Mary was often painted as a Madonna with crown, surrounded by stars, standing on top of the world or the partly visible moon. After the victory against the Turks at Lepanto, Mary is depicted as the Queen of Victory, sometimes wearing the crown of the Habsburg empire.^[43] National interpretations existed in France as well, where Jean Fouquet painted the Queen of Heaven in 1450 with the face of the mistress of King Charles VII^[9] Statues and pictures of Mary were crowned by kings in Poland, France, Bavaria, Hungary and Austria,^[9] sometimes apparently using crowns previously worn by earthly monarchs - a surviving small crown presented by Margaret of York seems to have been that worn by her at her wedding to Charles the Bold in 1463. A recent coronation was that of the picture of the Salus Populi Romani in 1954 by Pius XII. The veneration of Mary as queen continues into the 21st Century, but artistic expressions do not have the leading role as in previous times^[9]

Artworks, including paintings, mosaics and carvings of the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven, became increasingly popular from the 13th century onward. Works follow a set pattern, showing Mary kneeling in the heavenly court, and being crowned either by Jesus alone, or else by Jesus and God the Father together, with the Holy Spitit, usually in the form of a dove, completing the Trinity. The Coronation of Mary is almost entirely a theme of western art. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Mary is often shown wearing a crown, the coronation itself never became an accepted artistic subject

Paschal Baylon

Saint Paschal Baylon (or Pascal Baylon) (24 May 1540 – 17 May 1592) was a Spanish friar and is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of Eucharistic congresses and Eucharistic associations.

  

Life

He was born at Torrehermosa, in the Kingdom of Aragon, on 24 May 1540, on the Feast of Pentecost, called in Spain "the Pasch (or "Passover") of the Holy Ghost", whence the name Paschal. His parents, Martin Baylon and Elizabeth Jubera, were poor peasants. He spent his youth as a shepherd. He would carry a book with him and beg passersby to teach him the alphabet and to read, and as he toiled in the fields he would read religious books.

In around 1564, he joined the Reformed Franciscan Order (Alcantarine Reform) as a lay brother. He chose to live in poor monasteries because, he said, "I was born poor and am resolved to die in poverty and penance." He lived a life of poverty and prayer, even praying while working, for the rest of his life.

He was a mystic and contemplative, and he had frequent ecstatic visions. He would spend the night before the altar in prayer many nights. At the same time, he sought to downplay any glory that might come from this piety. He died on May 17, which is his current feast day, in 1592.

Veneration

Sepulchre of Paschal Baylon, Villareal.

 His tomb in the Royal Chapel in Villareal in the old province of Valencia, where he died, immediately became an object of pilgrimage. Beatified by Paul V in 1618, he was canonized by Alexander VIII on October 16, 1690. The saint is usually depicted in adoration before a vision of the Eucharist.

Forty years before he was canonized, an indigenous Guatemalan claimed to have had a vision of a sainted Paschal Baylon, appearing as a robed skeleton. This event became the basis of the heterodox tradition of San Pascualito.^[1]

Paschal Baylon was enlisted in the Church's struggle against Modernism, part of which was through increasing devotion towards the Sacrament of the Eucharist; Pope Leo XIII^[2] proclaimed Saint Paschal Baylon, the "seraph of the Eucharist", Patron of eucharistic congresses and all contemporary and future eucharistic associations. Christian Art usually depicts him wearing the Franciscan habit and bearing a Monstrance, signifying his devotion to the Holy Eucharist.

During the Red Terror at the time of the Spanish Civil War his grave was desecrated and his relics burned by anticlerical leftists.

TOUR IN VATICAN MUSEUM

Vatican Museum : I haven't done all that many travel updates here,  The people say the Vatican City is very small, but there seems to be no limit to the number of tourist buses that can fit inside. 

The Museum is relatively well set up for the crowds, but as you'd expect for any old building there are some kinks. Still, there turned out to be ample places inside where I could escape the press of flesh.

One of the first things you notice upon entering the Vatican Museum is that everybody is there to see the Sistine Chapel, and very few people really want to see anything else. As you enter the giant courtyard, you see that it is lined with ranks of identical information stations, all of them about the Sistine Chapel: 

You can see that most of these stations have a tour group clustered around. The tour guides can't really do their spiel in the Chapel itself-- even though most of them are using wireless comm systems with their groups -- because it's way too crowded. So each guide sets up her group at a station and goes through an introduction to the Chapel, before marching the group down the kilometer of hallways to actually get to the place itself.

It's surreal. There are literally a dozen of these stations waiting for groups to do this. If you're looking for the Sistine Chapel, you've got to be figuring this is an ominous sign.

Not nearly as ominous as this: the other occupant of the courtyard is none other than the Eye of Sauron. 

I have no idea what that is really supposed to be. Very few things in the Museum are labeled. I'm sticking with the hypothesis that Benedict XVI actually became the caretaker of the Eye after the fall of Barad-Dur. I confirmed this as I saw four hobbits having their pictures taken in front of it: 

However, the thing rotates around, and a look at the other side presents a different hypothesis. 

Behold the power of this fully armed and operational battle station!

Ah, yes, fun times.

After not very long, I began to realize that the Vatican Museum is basically the papal version of The House on the Rock. This is the tourist location in southern Wisconsin started by a man who first built an interesting house, and then went wild with collections and folk art. He built warehouses, one giant whale, and a Scaramanga-like old town, complete with giant creepy music devices. Unlike the Vatican, it was featured in Neil Gaiman's book, American Gods.

Quirky as it is, the House on the Rock had the influence of a single designer. The Vatican Museum did not, and it shows. Some parts of the complex seem like afterthoughts, others are just stack after stack of old stuff.

Here's a hall mostly full of old heads, and another camera in the act of flashing:

Some of the popes really had a taste for old Roman statuary, so they collected them. That was a real service, considering that many of them were dug up during the course of building medieval and later Rome, and they might otherwise have been destroyed or lost. On the other hand, some of the stuff here was collected by going around to old monuments and defacing them. For instance, there's a whole hallway, closed to the public, full of inscriptions taken from tombs and buildings. A Vatican bigwig in the sixteenth century arranged them on the wall by subject. I wonder what they would tell us in their original context.

Here's something you don't see every day, a goddess with two dozen breasts: 

I prefer to think of her that way. The label said that some classicists think those are bull testicles drooping off her, which I find roughly 8.3 times more disturbing than two dozen breasts.

I really enjoyed the statuary halls, because they were notably uncrowded. This big gallery didn't have more than 20 or 30 people in it. I even got a shot without anybody in the frame: 

Doesn't Octavian look lonely? Hey, where did everybody go?

Well, the answer to that is clear -- they all went to the Sistine Chapel. Turns out the Vatican has a special route for tour groups to bypass most of the collections and buzz through a few rooms on their way to the Last Judgment.

Just to let you know, I did see the Sistine Chapel. It was miserable. It's a very big room -- now I understand why they make such a big deal about Michaelangelo being up near that ceiling for so long. But boy was it unpleasant. Eight hundred people were crammed inside, half of them sitting around the small step at the edge of the room, because it was the only place on the tourist route where anybody could sit down! The room was darkened, with security guards repeatedly incanting, "NO PHOTO", "NO PHOTO!"

With this mass of humanity, the whole room smelled like armpits. You know, serious B.O.

The ironic thing is that a short walk from the Sistine Chapel are several rooms with frescoes by Raphael. Including the famous "School of Athens":

Here's Aeneas working hard to carry his dad out of burning Troy. 

Did Troy have Dutch windmills?

The tour groups totally bypassed these rooms on their way to Michaelangelo. Well, I did hear one tour guide explaining how on weekdays the Vatican parking lot is usually full. Four or five people appreciatively nodded, hearing him through their little earbuds.

As you can see, there were no restrictions on photos in the rest of the museum. Just the Sistine Chapel. So I got loads of pictures (not yet uploaded) of stuff, including some lesser-known Raphael works. Here are some saracens about to be separated from their heads:

Not what I thought of first when I hear "Italian Renaissance."

One thing I started to realize is that the popes had really good taste in art between 1500 and 1650, and otherwise not so much. The Vatican Museum has a contemporary art section, really with very little memorable and only two pieces I thought were outstanding (one was a haunting assumption-like piece by Salvador Dali and donated by Juan Carlos of Spain). I don't think there is any shortage of 20th-century art with religious themes, but the collection here was tepid.

Here's one of the more colorful pieces: St. Christopher with a flaming baby Dalai Lama on his back:

Then there was this. Not quite sure what it was saying: 

Strangely, the Museum also had Malcolm Forbes' collection of Fabergé on display, including a dozen or so of the famous eggs. It was a traveling exhibit from a private foundation, on loan to the Vatican.

Traffic through the museum goes really only one way, at least during the parts where you're on the Sistine Chapel track. There are two doors out of the Sistine Chapel. One of them goes back to the museum. The other -- the one all the tour groups take -- spits you out into St. Peter's. I found myself intrigued by the cupola, and climbed the seven hundred and some odd steps up to the top. It was quite a view:

If you wonder why I have that look on my face, that tiny white speck next to my right shoulder is a delivery van in the Vatican parking lot. That will give you some idea of how high this really is.

The inner rotunda stop is not nearly so high as the cupola, but it's high enough. Here are some stormtroopers preparing for the arrival of the imperial shuttle: 

This was actually an ordination ceremony. I watched for some time, thinking that anybody might come in for such a special event. It turned out to be a cardinal running the show.

After taking the seven hundred and some odd steps back down, I found myself on the floor of the church, where I saw the light: 

You see, it was at this point I realized that there was no way back into the museum, where I assumed I could continue my tour and collect my backpack from the coat check. It was also here that I realized that the visible employees are all just crowd control, and speak no English. To find this out, I had to make my way past the three hundred people holding their videocameras in the air to capture their special moment fifty yards from the Pietà. What is it with Michaelangelo and tour groups?

Luckily, my broken Italian and my ticket, along with the friendly back door tender, were enough to talk my way back into the Vatican Museum, where I went like a salmon around a dam, up the jumbo exit stairs against the flow of the tour groups. Back into the unpleasantness of the Sistine Chapel ("NO PHOTO, NO PHOTO!") and out the right door. Which turned out to be the left door.

A mere trickle of people were headed back this way, most of them headed straight back the 500 m to the museum entrance. Though the museum was no longer admitting people, two hours of browsing were still left. This notably increased my breathing room, and by 4:30, I often had a room entirely to myself.

I spent most of the time walking around the Old Masters. The collection has a few standouts and many minor works by lesser-known artists before and after the Renaissance.

Here's a cool Garden of Eden I liked: 

What I love about this one is that the elephant -- stage right in the background behind the leopard and ostrich -- is totally posed like a gomphothere. It's just an elephant, but it had me looking all through the painting for possible extinct animals. At lower left, a badger is standing up to a tiger. Go Bucky!

Well, I have to end the story somewhere, so I'll end with this owl eating a pigeon. It was one of the last paintings I saw in the Museum, before I walked the dusty way up to my apartment.

Priest who defied Nazis beatified

The bishop of Wuerzburg, Friedhelm Hofmann, celebrates the beatification of a priest in the Cathedral of Wuerzburg, central Germany Sunday May 15, 2011. Georg Haefner, painting in background, was honored for practicing his Roman Catholic faith in defiance of the Nazis. Haefner died of hunger and disease in Dachau concentration camp in 1942. Friedhelm Hofmann said Haefner represented all members of the Catholic church who perished for their faith during the Nazi-era. (AP Photo/dapd/Timm Schamberger)

Germans in Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria celebrated Sunday the beatification ceremony of a priest who was honored for practicing his Roman Catholic faith in defiance of the Nazis.

The pope, who grew up in Bavaria, sent Cardinal Angelo Amato from the Vatican to celebrate the beatification Mass for Georg Haefner in Wuerzburg Cathedral, the DAPD news agency reported.

During his traditional Sunday greetings to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, the pope, who grew up in Bavaria and was forced by the Nazis to serve as a teen in the Hitler Youth, praised Haefner.

"In the confusion of National Socialism, Georg Haefner was willing, as a faithful shepherd, to protect his flock and deliver the sacrament and the water of life to many people, until the end of his life," the pope said, speaking in German.

"He forgave those who wronged him and in a letter to his parents from prison, he wrote, 'We want to be at peace with everyone.'"

Haefner died of hunger and disease in Dachau concentration camp in 1942.

Friedhelm Hofmann, the bishop of Wuerzburg, said Haefner represented all members of the Catholic church who perished for their faith during the Nazi-era

No response to "Saint John Paul II? Just say no."

Pope John Paul II: La-la-la-la-la-la — I can't hear those things you're saying about sex abuse

Today is the 30^th anniversary of the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. He recovered, of course, and remained Pope for another 24 years until his death in 2005, at which point the new Pope, Benedict XVI, started planning to make JPII a saint. Benedict beatified John Paul — the last step before sainthood — two weeks ago.

I come from a deeply old-school, European “incense, rosaries and miracles” Catholic background. These days, however, I’m a pretty disgruntled Catholic — not really “lapsed,” but not happy about the church hierarchy either — who has a thought or two about the rush to declare JPII a saint. Briefly, I’m against it, for several reasons. Here are some of those reasons:

• JPII started out as a breath of fresh air — at 58, younger than most new Popes,  physically energetic, and a welcome force against totalitarianism. But he also turned out to be a rigid defender of a repressive form of conservative Catholicism and a strong ally of powerful established elements in the Church that would love to overturn the “window-opening” changes wrought by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI during Vatican  II.

• He loved traveling and smiling all over the world, but his thinking on critical Catholic issues — priests’ celibacy, ordination of women, contraception, divorce, etc. — was shallow and deeply disappointing to Catholics who expected JPII to expand the necessary, modern changes of Vatican II.

• He was extraordinarily harsh with theological dissenters, primarily Jesuits, who wanted the Church to do more to help the poor, particularly in Latin America. Instead, he strongly supported serial pedophile Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the Legion of Christ, in order to bolster conservative orthodoxy in that region. Along with the group Opus Dei, the Legion of Christ became JPII’s pitbulls against the Jesuits and other Church liberals.

• The primary reason, however, that John Paul II should not have been beatified, much less granted sainthood, is his abysmal — truly abysmal — role in the pedophile/sexual-abuse crisis. The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, in an excellent recent column titled “Hold the Halo,” reports on the many times JPII was told by bishops and cardinals that the sexual-abuse crisis was epidemic and needed strong action on his part. Dowd concludes, “And he was passive to an absolute fault. He failed in mountainous terms.”

Now, neither Maureen Dowd’s griping, nor mine, nor that of Catholic progressives will stop Benedict XVI from making JPII a saint. He also wants to do the same for Pope Pius XII who notably remained silent about the Third Reich’s horrific persecution of Jews, gypsies and gays. Meanwhile, as Dowd and columnist E.J. Dionne point out, neither Pope John XXIII, who launched the Vatican II reforms and was beatified 11 years ago, nor social justice advocate and Catholic Worker movement founder Dorothy Day, who has been “considered” for beatification since 1997, are in Vatican limbo.

1. Petrov Says:
   May 13th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
   I am not so clued up on the other beatifications in the process but as far as that of JohnPaul is concerned you miss the point.
   This man did not only belong to the Roman Catholics but the world. The good he did in his life far outweighs any shortcommings that he as man had. I doubt if you sort out all the mistakes and problems in your life. All of us have one or two issues we wish would go away if we just ignored them. Not right but reality. Secondly you are very narrow sighted. Considering the daily work and international events on the agenda of the Pope, do you really think that a few (yes on a world wide scale it is quite insignificant)bad priests would have warrented that much attention. I feel somewhat for the molested children but this has been going on in ALL churches for as long as churches existed and to this day. He was a leader and had people UNDER him that had to sort out such problems. The president of a country does not involve himself in the activities of a few bad policeman or soldiers. He has a system and generals to handle such matters. You seem to forget that even Mother Theressa was at times very difficult, impatient and sometimes even blatantly rude. She managed her order with an iron fist which in many countries would have been heavily critisized. No good person can do only good. The are after all is said and done PEOPLE and not GODS. 
   
   
   When I was young my father took me to the sea and made me touch the dirty brown foam on the beach and then took me to a rock that was been pounded by the sea. He told me that you cannot tell a blind man that the power of the sea is in the brown foam but you must let him experience the power on the rock. You cannot condense a life of good work and then describe the life according to its failings and shortcommings. As a RC you should also know that some of the changes you expected him to make was OUTSIDE his powers to make considering the finality of the decisions of the previous vatican councils and popes/

Pakistan’s ‘Blasphemy’ Laws Pose Growing Threat

Sajid Emmanuel (pictured) and his brother the Rev. Rashid Emmanuel were shot to death on July 19, 2010, outside the courtroom where they were on trial under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

 

Not even children are exempt from possibility of triggering Islamic rage.
 
ISTANBUL, May 13 (CDN) — Pakistan’s notorious “blasphemy” laws can put even children at risk, and Christians say the days when they could teach their offspring pat answers to protect them from accusations of disparaging Islam or its prophet seem to have passed.

A 30-year-old Pakistani woman who grew up in Lahore said her Christian parents taught her formula answers to keep from falling prey to accusations under the blasphemy statutes, such as “I am a Christian, I can only tell you about Him.” But even then, before radical Islamists began influencing Pakistani society as they have in recent years, schoolchildren were taught not to discuss religion, she said.

“We knew never to get into religious discussions with others,” she said. “We had them at home – our parents would put us through the drill of asking us tough questions to see how we answered. Only now I realize that was practice for school.”

In this way, she was imbued with the fundamentals of the Christian faith and at the same time learned that she should discuss it only with her parents, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Though the Christian faith is inherently evangelistic, the need to remain silent is even more important today, she added.

“Christians constantly face questions like, ‘What do you think of the Quran, do you like it?’ and, ‘What do you think of Muhammad?’” she said. “One answer is, ‘As a Christian I have only read the Bible, I can’t read Arabic.’ These questions used to be easier to answer, we had formulas. But those are not working any more. We just tell children ‘Don’t talk about religion in school.’ This is shaky ground now.”

The blasphemy statutes signal to non-Muslims that they are second-class or “dhimmi” status citizens who must stay within narrow social boundaries, leave or be killed, she said.

“Some parents don’t even tell their children about Jesus, because they are scared they will go to school and say something wrong,” she said. “One street kid did not know anything except about the blasphemy law. When her mother was asked why she did not teach her daughter about Jesus instead of the blasphemy law, she replied, ‘If I tell her too much, she will talk about it on the street, and someone will kill her or charge her with blasphemy.’”

The street child, she said, was afraid to tell her what church she attended.

“She said the mullah in the shop behind us was listening, and as she said that, I saw the man nearly fall off his chair from trying to listen to us,” she said.

An entire generation, Christians fear, is growing up not knowing their faith for fear that it will lead to potentially disastrous schoolyard talk. Moreover, children required to take Islamic studies in school are in danger with a single misstep.

“If they write anything or misspell anything to do with the prophet Muhammad, they can be in serious danger,” the source said. “In fact, the other side of this is that they are made to answer questions saying what a wonderful man he was.”

Christian kids in predominantly Muslim areas don’t have friends to play with, as even a cricket game can be risky, she said. Adults are equally fearful.

“People in offices are silenced into submission,” she said. “The fear is creating aggression.”

Conviction under Section 295-C of the blasphemy law for derogatory comments about Muhammad is punishable by death, though life imprisonment is also possible. Curiously, accusers in blasphemy cases cannot repeat the alleged derogatory comments without risk of being accused of blasphemy themselves. Section 295-B makes willful desecration of the Quran or use of an extract in a derogatory manner punishable with life imprisonment. Section 295-A prohibits injuring or defiling places of worship and “acts intended to outrage religious feelings.” It is punishable by life imprisonment, which in Pakistan is 25 years.

Law Leading to Lawlessness
A district court judge last November stunned the nation and the international community by handing down a death sentence to a Christian mother of five for allegedly speaking ill of Muhammad.

Subsequently three politicians spoke out against the blasphemy law that put Asia Noreen (also called Asia Bibi) in prison. Two of them have been killed for standing up for Noreen and against the blasphemy law. One is in hiding for fear of her life.

Noreen, mother two children and stepmother to three others, has been in prison in solitary confinement since June 2009, accused of having blasphemed against Muhammad, after a verbal disagreement with some women in the village of Ittanwali, near Lahore. If she is released from prison, her life will be at risk. Her husband and children are on the run, receiving constant threats from Muslims who say they will take justice into their own hands.

Thousands of Pakistanis who think and believe differently than mainstream Muslims are at risk of being slandered under the blasphemy law, and those who live in poverty or are illiterate are particularly vulnerable. Personal vendettas from neighbors, co-workers and rivals are the most common reasons blasphemy law cases are filed, according to Paul Marshall of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom.

“Most victims are Muslims, but non-Muslims or minority Muslims suffer disproportionally,” said Marshall. “Ahmadis [an unorthodox Islamic sect] are probably proportionally the greatest victims. There are more victims from mobs and vigilantes than from the government itself, but the government bears responsibility because it does not protect the victims.”

Suspected Islamic extremists in Faisalabad shot dead two Christians about to be acquitted of blasphemy charges on July 19, 2010. The Rev. Rashid Emmanuel, 32, and his 30-year-old brother Sajid Emmanuel were shot days after handwriting experts on July 14 notified police that signatures on papers denigrating Muhammad did not match those of the accused. Expected to be exonerated, the two leaders of United Ministries Pakistan were being led in handcuffs under police custody back to jail when they were shot.

Christian Lawyers’ Foundation President Khalid Gill said the two bodies bore cuts and other signs of having been tortured, including marks on their faces, while the brothers were in police custody.

Most recently, 40-year-old Arif Masih, of a village near Faisalabad, was arrested from his house on April 5 after Muslims accused him of ripping pages of the Quran and writing a threatening letter ordering them to become Christians. His brother claims that a neighbor fabricated the accusations in order to acquire property adjacent to that of Masih’s.  

Though the much-abused blasphemy law is punishable by death, at times vigilantes have taken matters into their own hands. At least eight Christians accused of blasphemy are estimated to have been killed since 1986. The number of Muslims accused of blasphemy and killed extra-judicially may be twice that figure.
 

For secular-educated Pakistanis, the blasphemy law has come to symbolize the measure to which extreme Islam has overtaken society. In the span of three months, radical Islamists murdered two of the nation’s most outspoken leaders against the blasphemy law. On Jan. 4 Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, was murdered, and on March 2 parliamentarian Shabaz Bhatti, who as federal minister for minority affairs was the only Christian cabinet member, was assassinated in Islamabad.

A third official, Sherry Rehman, a parliamentarian from Karachi, led an effort to reform the blasphemy law after Noreen was sentenced to death last year. Taseer, Bhatti and Rehman were the most vocal about injustices Noreen has suffered and their disapproval of the law. Rehman, in hiding since Taseer’s murder, is said to be next on the Islamic terrorists’ hit list.

Noreen’s case drew little attention before she received the death sentence. One advocate said he believes that had her case not drawn so much attention, she would have been quietly acquitted by a higher court without criticism abroad or at home. Now her release would look like a win for the “Christian” West, he said.

“Hence, we are not going to have any concrete benefit out of whatever decision comes on her,” said Asif Aqeel, leader of the Community Development Initiative. “I don’t see any decision having some fruitful result.”

Aqeel concurred with other Christians that the blasphemy law has led to a steep drop in freedom of expression. Mosques in neighborhoods where blasphemy cases are filed become centers for inciting people to the streets, where destruction ensues. Since Noreen’s death sentence in November, sermons against changing the blasphemy law are commonly broadcast from mosques, especially in neighborhoods where there is a Christian presence.

“People do not talk, and it is proving an embargo on thinking,” Aqeel said. “It has caused vigilante justice, and several incidents have taken place. After that, now whenever this issue arises, people become afraid that it might turn into a demolition of the entire place.”

Victims of the blasphemy law cannot hope for justice from local police, who “do not dare to declare innocent anyone accused of blasphemy,” Aqeel said, and often lower court judges and magistrates do little to give them their rights. “Now the slogan is that the one who sympathizes with the blasphemer is also a blasphemer,” he said, pointing to the deaths of Taseer and Bhatti.

Pakistan is moving increasingly towards a state driven by fear of extremists, where even moderate politicians make conservative choices to appease Islamist threats, according to Sara Taseer Shoaib, daughter of the late Taseer.  

“Pakistan is definitely becoming more right-wing and extremist when it comes to religion,” she said. “Religious parties are gaining a cult following, and even moderate leaders are trying to gain popularity and votes by taking a right-wing position.”

The reasons for this shift to the ultra-right, she said, are many: conservative issues like defense of the blasphemy law serve to deflect attention from the real issues of poverty and lack of hope; there is an increasing trend to blame all woes on the West; and there is a prevailing sense of a need to defend Islam as the perception remains that it is under global attack.

Shoaib said her father spoke about Noreen as a member of Pakistan’s poor, disenfranchised minority. Determined to defend her and the rights of others like her, Taseer had visited Noreen in prison before he died.

“He felt that she was a victim of the ambiguity of this law, and [that] she was unable to defend herself fairly,” she said. “[He felt that] she was the prime candidate where the unfairness of this law could be brought to light. He wanted an amendment to the law which is man-made.”

The source from Lahore said that fear among Christians after Taseer and Bhatti’s death is palpable. Christians feel left alone, not knowing who to trust.

“Everything seems to have snowballed,” she said. “People are really, really scared. Someone who you see as out there defending you and speaking for you has been silenced; someone just goes up to him and shoots him.”

She said Christians feel that the mentality of their Muslim fellows has hardened as the Pakistani Taliban and other extremist elements seem to be holding the government and people’s minds hostage.

“For the extremists, it’s no longer making Pakistan a Muslim country, but how they use Pakistan to promote the cause of Islam across the world,” she said. “It’s not for love of the nation, or national identity, but entirely about religious identity. That completely isolates those who do not subscribe to the same views … you are on the street in terms of identity and your social belonging in the community.”

Growing Issue
Aqeel said blasphemy looms larger in Pakistani minds and anti-Christian sentiment is growing for both socio-economic and global reasons.

In today’s impoverished Pakistan, and after U.S.-led wars in Muslim-majority Iraq and Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, people see even Pakistani Christians as allies of the West threatening their identity, he said. Poverty and a religion that upholds violence as a means to an end only fuel this mob mentality, he said.  

“This has helped create a sense of alienating the Muslim world, and that the ‘blasphemous’ West is trying to snatch the values by movies and technology and globalization and trying to capture areas of the Islamic world,” Aqeel said. “Because of this, their sense of insecurity has made them more religious.”

As a result, blasphemy has become a larger issue, he said.

Pakistan’s law against defaming religion was amended in 1982 to include desecrating the Quran and in 1986 to include disparaging Muhammad. Since then, at least 37 blasphemy law suspects have been killed while in police custody, according to Aqeel.

On March 15, Qamar David, 55, died while serving a life sentence in a prison in Karachi for alleged blasphemy. Prison authorities claimed that David died of a heart attack, but his supporters have called for an investigation, as he had received threats and was subject to beatings and mistreatment from prison authorities. (See “Pakistani Christian Sentenced for ‘Blasphemy’ Dies in Prison,” March 15.)

While the murders of Bhatti and Taseer have helped to remove a “Defamation of Religions” resolution from United Nations consideration – for now – the assassinations have also brought any movement toward amending Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to a standstill.

“Although there is a section of media that is highlighting the issue of blasphemy, the situation hardly allows any movement or legislation on this subject,” said a Pakistani lawyer on condition of anonymity. “In my experience in the past 24 years, I have not seen [such a] stalemate condition, mainly due to the violence and terrorist threat that prevails.”