Archbishop Joseph Coutts read a homily to a captive audience
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali was invited to speak about the life of Shahbaz Bhatti and the ongoing persecution in Pakistan.
Wilson Chowdhry was asked to place a photo of Shahbaz Bhatti at alter below the main pulpit area. As Wilson read a biblical passage Bishop Michaeal Nazir Ali lit a candle for the slain Federal Minster. Akmal Zahid from Nelson Asian Church led the Lords Prayer in Urdu.
Images © Weenson Oo / Aid to the Church in Need.
A Night to Remember
By John Pontifex
THE plight of Christians persecuted for their faith
was the focus of prayer, song and reflection at the first-ever Night of Witness
held at Westminster Cathedral.
Bishops – both from the UK and overseas – led yesterday’s (Thursday,
17th May) event at which Christians from countries marked by
persecution played central roles in raising awareness of ongoing acts of
religious oppression.
Organised by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, the Night
of Witness began with more than 1,000 people filling Westminster Cathedral for
a Mass highlighting the importance of religious freedom, celebrated by Bishop
Declan Lang of Clifton, chairman of the international affairs department of the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
People leaving the service gathered on the cathedral piazza for an
outdoor rally which began with Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster
welcoming special guests Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi ,
Pakistan , and Coptic
Catholic Bishop Joannes Zakaria of Luxor ,
Egypt
Among other senior clergy attending the event were Emeritus
Archbishop Kevin McDonald of Southwark, Mgr Keith Newton, Ordinary of the
Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Archbishop Athanasius Toma Dawod, Head
of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the UK
and Emeritus Anglican Bishop of Rochester
During the rally, Dr Nazir-Ali gave a speech stressing the
importance of religious freedom, comparing and contrasting problems in the UK with those in Egypt ,
Pakistan , Iran
He said: “We are approaching a time in this country where we will
have to struggle for fundamental freedoms for Christians to manifest our
beliefs and maintain our Christian institutions.
“We will face this – we are already facing this – in this country
and so the example of our brothers and sisters from elsewhere will I hope
sustain us.”
With Catholic performance poet Sarah de Nordwall acting as MC, the
outdoor event included performances by the West End Gospel Choir, Catholic pop
group ooberfuse, singers Helen Munt and Hammad Baily and the Eliot Smith Dance
Company.
Interspersed with the acts were a series of short videos about the
persecuted Church produced by Aid to the Church in Need especially for the
event.
The videos explored themes of persecution and its causes developed
in ACN’s latest publication Christians and the Struggle for Religious Freedom
which was launched at the event, complete with an introduction by leading UK
The rally ended with a procession back into the cathedral fronted by
a vast wooden cross with Pakistani Christians from Nelson in Lancashire
and Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association.
Mr Chowdhry said: “The Night of Witness held at
Westminster Cathedral was a great spiritual success.
“To be able to gather with our brothers and
sisters from a number of different communities, which continue to experience
hatred and persecution in their home copuntries, was an amazing experience and
shows our solidarity for each other.”
I was surprised, NO person from asian churchs in EAST LONDON, because there are lots of them. Well done to Asian Catholic Community of Nelson . David dean , Bernard Variam , Vincent Masih ,Shamas Khokhar ,and one or two more brothers thank you for taking time and effort to attend Westminster Cathedral Vigil Mass may God Bless You All.Please look in to this Mr.Chowdhry WHY Mr. Chowdhry ??
ReplyDeleteI did not organise the event it was organised by ACNUK? They wanted a small group of participants and I have always worked favourably with Nelson Church so suggested them. Churches across the country were free to attend and my email distribution of the flyer was sent to over 10,000 people including London Pastors. What more do you want. I had not written up the post for these images as I was awaiting the press release from ACNUK and used the posting to share images with local papers ACNUK are aware of this)? I have written a short part complete article to assuage your concern but do not accurately understand what your point is?
ReplyDeleteThank you ACNUK for organising such a memorable night. And also thank you Wilson, for all your efforts. Wilson, you have communicated this event and previous ones through your blog, facebook, twitter, emails and post for all to see. Keep it up brother, God bless you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for you article. I have placed this on my blog in Spanish.
ReplyDeletehttp://cristianosperseguidosayeryhoy.blogspot.it/2012/05/reino-unido-una-noche-para-recordar.html