Bishop Alexander Malik

[Amy]

Source: Pakistan Christian PostRepentance of Bishop Alexander Malik: He was among Christian leaders who welcomed blasphemy laws and Shariat Bill in Jurist Conference in Lahore called by Ex-Premier Nawz Sharif. The visit of His Grace Arch Bishop of Canterbury to earthquake victims of Kashmir was widely covered by national and international media. The Presence of Bishop Alexander Malik in company of His Grace during this tour also brought him in media spotlight. It surprised Pakistani Christians when Church of Pakistan leaders neglected to organize any spiritual gathering in honor of Bishop of Canterbury but kept His Grace busy in Press Conferences, meetings with Chief Ministers, Governors, Prime Minister and President of Pakistan. The tour of Arch Bishop looked like visit of politician rather than spiritual head of worldwide church establishment. Bishop Malik emerged as confident representatives of Arch Bishop in Pakistan again while he has lost confidence of Christians on property scams and other controversial issues. It was general opinion that Bishop Alexandra Malik along with few other Bishops of Church of Pakistan who urged Arch Bishop to write MQM Chief Altaf Hussian in London to interfere in Diocese of Karachi affairs has only invited Arch Bishop for political purposes. The millions wasted on political tour of Arch Bishop brought fruit for organizers in Pakistan when Geo TV invited Bishop Malik in one of program. Apart from comments of Bishop Malik on this TV program we wish to submit that Pakistani Christians still remember that: Bishop Alexandra Malik is a religious leader who always bargained on principals for his vested interest and played with fate of poor Christians in Pakistan. He was only religious leader who was invited in Jurist Conference in Lahore when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif implemented Shariat Laws and wanted international approval through this conference. Bishop Malik welcomed Shariat laws and Blasphemy laws and Christians witnessed his Photograph in national newspapers with Nawz Sharif on stage raising hand in hands. Bishop Alexander is one religious leader who claimed that drinking is not sin in Christianity and Excise and Taxation Minister quoted it with his reference in Punjab Assembly. Bishop Alexander Malik is one who issued statement on Homosexuality and damaged image of Christianity in Pakistan. Bishop Alexander Malik is one who invited Muslims interference in Church affairs of Pakistan by urging Arch Bishop of Canterbury to write to MQM Chief in London to support his party bishop in Karachi. Bishop Malik is also one accused in illegal sale of Christian properties and cases against him are in courts of law. Now, Christians again heard him on Geo TV program “ALIF” on February 5, 2006. According to CNI: He rightfully stated the following facts. · The main target of “Blasphemy Law” is the Christian community in Pakistan. · That this “Law” has created an atmosphere of uncertainty among Christians living in Pakistan. · That no Christian has ever violated the “Blasphemy Laws” and all cases that are registered and all persons under trial are victims of personal enmity or “Business Rivalry” and that no Christian can ever think of uttering any derogatory word for Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) or the Holy Koran. · That many Christians have left Pakistan due to this “Law” as any one can accuse a Christians for violating this Law. · That Christians are pressurized by Muslims to convert to Islam or they will be accused under “Blasphemy Laws”. · That no lawyer is willing to defend a person accused under “Blasphemy Laws”. · That we the Christians are not “Essai” and should not be addressed as such. We are “Masihi” and if anyone has problem with the word “Masihi” he/she can call us Christians. Our lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners and Christianity is very open on repentance. The Christians of Pakistan view this TV program of Bishop Malik that he accepted Lord Jesus as his savior again.

 

[Amy]

The Sunday Times: Charles flies into mixed marriage storm PRINCE CHARLES will fly into a bitter religious row today when he arrives in Pakistan to promote greater tolerance between Muslims and Christians "enlightened moderation", and encourage a better understanding between the country`s Muslim majority and its beleaguered Christian minority. His itinerary will include meetings with the country`s senior Christian leader, Anglican Bishop Alexander John Malik, who is caught in the crossfire between leading members of his own flock and Islamic fundamentalists over the marriage of his daughter Nadia to the son of a prominent Muslim family. Nadia, one of Pakistan`s most glamorous models, and her husband Danyaal, a doctor, married in August in an opulent Lahore cathedral wedding led by her father, and attended by the country`s "Lollywood" film and fashion set. Bishop Malik`s critics claim his daughter had converted to Islam and married her husband in a traditional Muslim wedding before attending a Christian blessing ceremony. Rival bishops have called for his resignation and claimed he has betrayed his flock. Leading Muslim clerics say the church ceremony is an insult if Nadia had converted to Islam, and that her Muslim husband was wrong to agree to a Christian blessing. Last week Nadia denied she had converted, but agreed both families had struggled to accept an inter-faith marriage. She and her husband have since moved to Glasgow from where she told The Sunday Times she was relieved to be out of Pakistan. "We`ve been very lucky because we`ve managed to move away. Discrimination would have caught us if we`d continued to live in Pakistan. It happens to every mixed couple because both communities feel betrayed, especially the Christians because I`m the bishop`s daughter and I`ve married a Muslim," she said. She had resisted marrying her husband for almost five years because she would not give up her faith. "Danyaal`s family is very religious. It was difficult for them to come to terms with the match. It was difficult to get them to come to the church, it was a struggle from beginning to end. Both families made sacrifices for us. It was a very stressful wedding," she said. The Christian community`s sense of betrayal, she said, was linked to the persecution it has suffered in recent years, including a number of brutal attacks on churches. More than 30 Christian worshippers have been murdered in the past five years. Against this backdrop, rival bishops from the country`s Methodist and Presbyterian churches are outraged by Bishop Malik`s gesture. "Some Christian parents are crying over this precedent," said the spokesman for the Methodist Bishop Akbar Khokhar In an article in the Pakistan Christian Post, Presbyterian Bishop Timotheus Nasir argued that Bishop Malik should resign. "You have cheated and betrayed the flock of Christ. You have deceived the Christian community," he wrote. Islamic clerics were also angered by the marriage. Last week Mufti Asghar Ali Rabbani of the Farooqia College , a leading Islamic jurisprudence centre, said Nadia Malik was guilty of becoming an infidel if she had converted, and that her husband should not have taken part in the marriage ceremony in a Christian church. "She has become an infidel and the punishment for it is death," Rabbani declared. A spokesman for Prince Charles declined to comment on the Malik family`s troubles, but emphasised that the prince was respected in Pakistan for his long-standing support for understanding between the faiths.