In 2010, the
Holy See named Bishop Victor GNANAPRAGASAM as the first bishop of the newly
erected Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta. However, when the Oblate was ordained to
the episcopacy on July 16, 2010, the ceremony took place in Karachi, the largest
city of Pakistan, because of the tensions and conflict in Quetta and in the
Province of Baluchistan.
Tensions and
conflict continue in the troubled area. On September 7, 2011, two suicide
bombers attacked the home and headquarters of a top paramilitary official,
killing at least 24 people and wounding 82 others. The windows were shattered
in Bishop Victor’s residence and there was damage to the offices of Caritas
Pakistan and three Catholic schools.
The Pakistani
Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in reprisal for the
arrest of a senior al-Qaida leader by Pakistani security forces.
Oblate
Father Cecil PAUL felt the vibration of the blasts in his parish office,
located about a kilometer from the targeted site. “Our country has reached the depths
of instability now. Violence continues unendingly after the capture and killing
of Osama bin Laden in the Northern Province.” he said.
It has
also been reported that al-Qaida is kidnapping wealthy Christians and holding
them for ransom to finance their own projects.
