October 28, 2003 A Call to Presence

by Father Anthony Breen, O.P.
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I'm very happy to have this opportunity to share with you my reflections to witness and presence in the Muslim country that was evangelized by Thomas the Apostle around the middle of the first century. St. Thomas came to the middle of the country now known as Pakistan around the middle of the first century. He is the one in St. John's gospel that was willing to die with Jesus.

When he said, "Lord we don't know where you are going? How can we know the way?" And Jesus said, "Thomas, I am the way, truth and the life. No one comes to the Father accept through me."

Perhaps you know Thomas only as the doubting Thomas. As you know in the Acts of the Apostles, Thomas cried out, "My lord an my God", Jesus said "Blessed are those who have not seen but believed." God cannot be seen by mortal men, Thomas saw a human being who he acknowledged to be God; Seeing, he believed, looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God who he could not see. (Quotation from St. Gregory the Great)


In 1965, I volunteered to be a missionary to Pakistan. Up to 1957 it was a territory of India. The country was eventually divided on religious grounds and the muslims were expected to go to Pakistan and the Hindus were expected to migrate to India, it didn't work out that way and in 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. This happened in the midst of some of the most horrendous carnage. Trainloads of Hindus were massacred and in retaliation the same was done back.

So far India has one of the largest population of Muslims in the world; about 5 million. The conflict between the Muslims and the Hindu's still happens today. The concept of eye for an eye has not been very popular, it has been you kill one of ours and we will kill 10 of yours. The Christian idea of turn the other cheek was dismissed except with Gandhi.


In the 17th century the last missionaries left Pakistan and didn't return until the early 19th century. There were several different forms which reached out to the local Hindu populations. They worked among the poor and setup schools for the wealthy. Many low caste Hindus became Christian because they didn't have anything to lose. The "untouchables" had much to lose including their lives and fortunes so conversions have been very few.

I belong to the religious order called the Order of Preachers. I arrived in 1965 with no preparation before going, it was a kind of baptism by immersion. The only reason why I survived those years is because I was living in a community. The hardest thing of all was getting used to the dry heat from April to October. There is also the spicy-hot curries, but if you can find a good cook that is half the battle.

The first 9 months was spent with a tutor to learn their language. I was given my first assignment after that in Multan. After a year of touring the villages in a car, I traveled by bus and by foot. It gave me a good opportunity to meet with the people. I was normally on the road for 4-5 days in a row. The people are warm and hospitable.

They gave us rice, chicken and a sweet dish called sugi (sp?). It looks like cream of wheat but it's oily and sugary. I was always given the best comforter at night. One of the problems was sleeping with an entire family and they would bring in the sheep and the other animals out of the cold. The rats and stuff, however, were a bit more than I could take.

I always wondered why the children would sleep with the family, I found out it was mostly due to the rats because they would nibble at anything. Many times I would take my bed out on the veranda to sleep.

Every three or four years I would come back to the states for 4-6 months. People would ask me if I was getting many conversions. I would say, "That's not what I am over there for." My mission as a missionary is to witness to Jesus Christ not necessarily to convert. If it happens, so much the better but as I see it conversion is the work of the Holy spirit. Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses to the ends of the Earth."

As for the Christians I visited they are normally very poor and had very little social standing in the society. They go back and forth between Catholic, Methodist and many other religions, it depends on which is visiting or where they can get the best handout.

In the past several years there has been a growing middle class among Christians. Much of this is made possible by the generosity of Christians from the West and Europe as they donate. Many Europeans have been generous in this regard.


In the final part of this I would like to share with you my observations on why the U.S. is hated by the Islamic world. In this day and age, we need to take a look at the reasons why relations have deteriorated.

In Pakistan they look back at the golden age of Islam in the 7th and 10th centuries, they were far ahead of us in the arts, philosophy and others. The decline is attributed to the religious wars including the crusades; the "holy wars" to take back the holy land. It failed and has left a legacy of hatred and mistrust.

Today Muslims are fighting their own holy world to drive the Jews out of the same holy land and to ban the western world of TV, Internet and Movies from their culture. The majority of the people are peace-loving Muslims but Islam has been dominated by a small number of radical muslims. They see their religion threatened by the western world and they vow to resist it to the death.

Among these threatening things are TV, Satellite TV, videos and the Internet. They are telling us that these things are corrupting their youth. Another cause of resentment is foreign aid with "strings attached" which has made many Muslim countries beggar nations. Almost half of the national budget of Pakistan used for debt spending. Military is another huge chunk and the rest is education, etc.

Many of their problems are of their own making, no doubt, especially the ongoing conflict with India but even there the west is responsible becuase of the way they divided the area. There is deep anger over our support for Israel. That support in their view has allowed the Palestinians to be oppressed and be denied their land.

Is it any wonder why they resort to terrorism. They don't see any other way.

When Islam is threatened they fight to the death as one. In my 35 years as a Catholic missionary, I have learned to love and respect the people. The majority are peace loving Suni Muslims. This conflict has been going on for almost 15 centuries. It's time to put aside our weapons of war and live as sisters and brothers.

In a land where Indians worship many manifestations of God and in Pakistan where they worship Allah, it is my hope that they will one day live together in harmony.


Question: What is the level of education of the people.

The vast majority are illiterate. They will quote a literacy rate of 30-40% but in reality it's much lower. Most people live in rural areas. That's why the mission schools have been very popular, these are a bit expensive though. Even the best Christian students are encouraged to attend the schools but it's not always possible.

Question: What's the environment like for missionaries now compared to when you first went.

It's changed very much. Back in the 50's and 60's we were tolerated and in some places looked up to, mainly due to the influence of the schools, but in the last 15-20 years there has been a growing resistance to foreigners especially missionaries. Our own people are open to us but others are not. In 1999 they insisted I bring around a body guard. It wasn't always a pleasant experience because lots of times they thought I was under arrest. Typically he'd just check in in the morning and that's it.

Question: Father, how are the Islamic ties in Pakistan, especially in dealing with the Shiites in Iran and the Sunis. How is the relationship between the sects.

It's a very tense relationship. The Shiites are discriminated against. There is violence between them. There is police protection at the mosques especially with Shiite feasts. The sunis normally suppress the Shiites because they're afraid.

Question: Since the time you visited and now, how can you describe the change in human rights and children?

How is the progress of human rights? The main influence has been the fact that the human rights violations are so widely publicized especially to minorities and women. That has been a prod to the government to give more rights to minority groups but the vast majority of people ignore the politicians. So while on the surface there has been progress, the vast majority it's the same.

Question: My mother's church went to Pakistan and they told them that the Muslim community holds the blessed virgin in high regard, is that true?

Yes, that's true, Muslims in general venerate Mary. Jesus is considered the greatest prophet after Muhammad, Mary is acknowledged ad the mother of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

That is a way of opening dialog with Muslims. We have started Muslim/Christian dialog groups and that's one of the points of agreement that we discuss. Also the veneration of Jesus as a prophet.

Question: Father, do they provide a lot of their own needs, can they produce the food they need and are most people fed adequately.

Back in the British days the central part of the country was known as the breadbasket of India. But because of the increase in population and inefficient land management that has been messed up and they have to import wheat in excess of exporting. The trouble is that food is not the highest priority to the government the high tech gadgets the more important. Many people go hungry but they don't really go starving in the streets as much as in India but they really just need to work on land management. Pakistan is blessed with five rivers and a lot of water is siphoned off for irrigation but a lot of times the land is impossible to farm.