The Pakistani Christian Masihi Foundation has declared 20 April as a day of prayer and fasting for Asia Bibi.
On that day, every Christian in the world is invited to light a candle and say a prayer for this Pakistani woman who has been condemned to death for blasphemy and who is currently being held in the Sheikupura prison in Punjab. Informed about the initiative, Asia “I am grateful to the Masihi Foundation for having organized this event, which gives me the hope that perhaps I will live. I feel loved by the Catholic Church and all the Christian communities throughout the world. I am proud to be the daughter of such a loving and merciful community. I want to send a message of peace and love to the whole world.”
Paul Bhatti, the brother of Shahbaz Bhatti, the recently-slain minister for religious minorities in Pakistan, has also lent his support to this event. Like his deceased brother, Paul Bhatti is Catholic and is a special councilor for the country’s religious minorities.
“I want to assure everyone that I am working with the [Pakistani] government and religious minorities to find a solution to this problem,” he said, “so as to prevent other innocent people from becoming victims of the current law concerning blasphemy.”