Church leaders around the world have condemned the Easter Sunday bombing of at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore, which killed more than 70 and wounded over 300 people. The Taliban faction Jamaat ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the bombing 27 March 2016 bombing. “We carried out the Lahore attack as Christians are our target,” said spokesman Ehansullah Ehsan. After hearing the news the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby tweeted: “We pray for the victims of Lahore to the crucified God, who brings hope in despair, whose love is with the victims, who promises justice. This despicable act, aimed at Christians, is utterly contemptible and condemned just as we fervently pray for those who have died and been wounded.” In his Angelus address to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis called for a moment of prayer. He said the attack was “reprehensible” and “bloodied” Easter. “I appeal to the civil authorities and to all the social components of Pakistan]to do everything possible to restore security and peace to the population and, in particular, to the most vulnerable religious minorities. The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Samuel Azariah, said in a video message he had “personally met and seen small children, women, old people. Some of them unconscious. Some of them from our church and from our diocese. It is a very, very, tragic and sad event.” Writing on Facebook, Bishop Azariah, said that such terror attacks “weaken and damage the struggle and effort toward bringing a relation of peace and harmony between Christians and Muslims.” He called upon the “ Muslim community to identify, silence and eliminate” the terrorists in their midst. “Mere statements of condemnation and quotes from The Holy Scriptures are not enough. We as a nation have reached a breaking point that ‘enough is enough.’ How many more soft targets have to be sacrificed?”
