2 years after Pakistan mob lynching, Christian family still seeks justice
LAHORE, Pakistan — As Muslims across Pakistan celebrate Eid al-Adha, Sultan Gill is quietly preparing for the death anniversary of his father, who died after a violent mob attack over allegations of blasphemy in 2024. Nearly 2,000 people attacked Gillʼs family in Sargodha, in northern Punjab province, on May 25, 2024, after allegations emerged that his father, Nazir (Lazar) Masih, had desecrated pages of the Quran. EWTN News covered the attack at the time . The mob ransacked the familyʼs home and shoe factory in Mujahid Colony and later set the business on fire after a mosque announcement reportedly amplified the accusations. Police managed to evacuate nine members of the family, but Masih was caught by the crowd and beaten with stones, bricks, and sticks. The 74-year-old succumbed to his injuries on the night of June 2–3, 2024. The killing sparked protests by Christian groups across the country, while politicians and Catholic bishops visited the family and held meetings with police officials. Yet nearly two years later, the family says it is still waiting for justice and compensation for the destruction of their property, which remains abandoned after they fled Sargodha. “Our wounds became fresh during Eid. The cruelty cannot be described in words,” Gill told EWTN News. “The confidence is gone. We cannot move around or talk freely. Two of my children had to discontinue their education and start working to support the family in a new city and help pay house rent,” he said. “The police assured us of 1.2 million rupees [about $4,300] as compensation for damage to the factory, which was actually worth millions. But despite repeated visits to the district administration and Punjabʼs minority affairs minister, we received nothing.” Arrests but no accountability Sargodha police registered cases against about 450 unidentified suspects under anti-terrorism laws, and 25 people were arrested over the attack on Masih. However, all of the accused were released within weeks, according to Sunil Kaleem, director of the Organization for Legal Aid, which has provided legal support to the family. “We challenged the bails granted to the accused, but without success. The biased judges of lower courts often rely on consistency and benefit-of-doubt principles in such cases,” Kaleem said. “There are no independent eyewitnesses apart from police officials, and there is little interest in pursuing accountability. The chances of punishment in mob attacks linked to blasphemy allegations remain very low.” Church leaders and rights groups have long argued that Pakistanʼs blasphemy laws disproportionately affect religious minorities and often fail to uphold principles of justice, including due process and the presumption of innocence. At least 26 Christians were killed extrajudicially in Pakistan between 1994 and 2024 following blasphemy allegations, according to the Center for Social Justice, a Lahore-based advocacy group. Church response Father David John, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier Church in Sargodha, said Masihʼs family received financial assistance and shelter from the National Commission for Justice and Peace, the Catholic bishops' rights body, for 20 months. “Psychological support was crucial for frightened Christians in the area, and it was important to stand with them,” he said. “We did what we could. There was a long struggle to restore normalcy in the city with the support of district peace committees and Muslim friends.” “Religious minorities in Pakistan deserve to live in peace and harmony. People of goodwill stand with us. There is tremendous scope for interfaith dialogue, and efforts toward acceptance must continue.” Catholic activist Ashiknaz Khokhar criticized delays in the justice process and warned of wider consequences. “It weakens public trust and leaves vulnerable communities exposed to further harm. When cases remain unresolved, fear and instability increase,” he said, adding that Masihʼs family now plans to sell its two homes after losing its business in Sargodha. He called for stronger preventive measures, including proactive law enforcement to manage crowds before violence escalates. “The state should use digital monitoring systems to address online hate speech, provide administrative and security safeguards to ensure judicial independence, discourage misuse of laws through consistent accountability, and introduce educational reforms promoting religious tolerance and civic responsibility,” he said.
4 months ago
Two years after a mob lynching in Pakistan, a Christian family continues to pursue legal accountability and compensation for the attack 1 2 3.
The lynching involved members of a Christian family who were killed by a mob in Pakistan 1 2 3.
The event occurred in 2024, and the victims were identified as part of a minority Christian community 1 2 3.
The surviving relatives have lodged complaints with local authorities and are awaiting court proceedings 1 2 3.
They have repeatedly appealed for a transparent investigation and for perpetrators to be prosecuted 1 2 3.
The case highlights the vulnerability of religious minorities in Pakistan, where mob violence against Christians has been reported in recent years 1 2 3.
Human‑rights groups and community leaders have called for stronger protection measures for minority groups 1 2 3.
The incident has drawn concern from international observers, who urge the Pakistani government to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice for the victims 1 2 3.
Assess Catholic teachings on protecting persecuted minorities
Catholic teaching treats the protection of persecuted minorities as a moral and juridical duty grounded in the inalienable dignity of every human person and the right to religious freedom. The Church’s approach is not only to condemn violence, but also to insist that states must create legal and social conditions where minorities can exist, keep their identity (including culture and worship), and participate in peaceable public life.
Catholic social teaching grounds minority protection in the “inalienable dignity of every human person,” regardless of “racial, ethnic, cultural or national origin or religious belief.”
When people form communities, that dignity entails a collective dimension: minorities “have the right to exist, with their own language, culture and traditions,” and the state is “morally obliged to leave room for their identity and self–expression.”
A second principle is the unity of the human race and the obligation that “no group should consider itself superior to another.”
This principle directly challenges the ideology that often lies behind persecution: the idea that some groups have a “natural” right to dominate others.
The Church repeatedly calls religious freedom “a measure of all other fundamental rights” insofar as it concerns the “most intimate sphere of the human spirit.”
Pope Leo XIV emphasizes that religious freedom is not merely a legal technicality; it is rooted in the dignity of the person and is “a cornerstone of any just society,” because it safeguards the “moral space in which conscience may be formed and exercised.”
He also stresses that when religious freedom is denied, communities experience “trust” replaced by “fear” and “oppression” that can breed “violence,” which makes denial of rights a direct threat to social peace.
Catholic teaching explicitly affirms that minorities have “precise rights and duties,” “most of all, the right to exist.”
The Compendium also teaches that minorities have the right to maintain their “culture, including their language,” and their “religious beliefs, including worship services.”
Religious freedom has individual and community aspects. On the individual level, it includes freedom to worship “individually and collectively, in private or in public,” and freedom not to be subjected “to forms of restriction and discrimination… in all aspects of life.”
On the community level, religious groups need specific liberties to operate according to their identity—such as freedom for their internal hierarchy, to appoint ministers, to communicate and teach their faith, and to conduct charitable and social activities.
This matters for persecuted minorities because persecution frequently works by restricting worship, education, institutions, or public proclamation—rather than only by direct physical violence.
Catholic teaching does not treat minority protection as pure one-sided entitlement. Minorities “are also bound by duties,” in particular “working for the common good of the State.”
It further states that a minority group has a duty “to promote the freedom and dignity of each one of its members” and to respect decisions to adopt the majority culture if someone chooses to do so.
So, Catholic doctrine frames minority protection as an ordered social good: rights without coercion, and duties that support social peace.
Pope John Paul II teaches that “peace and internal security can only be guaranteed through respect for the rights of all those for whom the State has responsibility.”
He adds that freedom of conscience and religious liberty are “essential” for peaceful coexistence, because restricting them “almost inevitably leads to bitter conflict.”
Where relations between groups have broken down, the Church says “dialogue and negotiation are the obligatory paths to peace.”
The same teaching emphasizes reconciliation must be “in accordance with justice,” and it requires respect for “the legitimate aspirations” of all sectors of the national community.
The Compendium is explicit: “In every case, recourse to terrorism is unjustifiable and damages the cause that is being sought.”
This is an important moral boundary. Catholic protection of persecuted minorities seeks justice through lawful and peaceable means, not retaliatory violence.
Pope Leo XIV notes that the persecution of Christians is “one of the most widespread human rights crises,” affecting “over 380 million believers,” with “high or extreme levels of discrimination, violence and oppression because of their faith.”
He also highlights “subtle forms of religious discrimination against Christians,” where their ability to proclaim Gospel truths is restricted for “political or ideological reasons,” including when they defend “the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants,” or promote the family.
This shows that Catholic teaching views persecution broadly: not only martyrdom, but also coercion and restriction that prevent conscience, worship, and public witness.
A key point in Pope John Paul II’s teaching is that “the right to religious freedom” is a “master” right, and “no individual or group, nor the State, can claim authority in the sphere of religious convictions.”
The Holy See therefore asks for the full respect of religious freedom “for all other religious communities,” not only for Christians.
That universality matters: Catholics are not asked to practice selective solidarity.
When addressing Aid to the Church in Need, Pope Leo XIV links religious freedom directly to the Church’s duty of solidarity: the persecuted are not abandoned—rather, the Church “remember[s] them, stand[s] with them, and… labour to secure their God-given freedoms.”
He describes religious freedom as essential for authentic reconciliation; denial produces breakdowns of ethical bonds and fuels oppression and violence.
Catholic doctrine provides guiding principles more than a single checklist, but several concrete duties follow logically from the above teachings and are directly reflected in the Church’s public emphasis.
Pope Leo XIV explicitly teaches that the right is “not optional but essential.”
And Pope John Paul II frames the duty of states as protecting religious freedom in ways that prevent discrimination in education, employment, public responsibilities, and other social life domains.
Catholic concern for persecuted minorities also includes ensuring that persecution is not “overlooked.” Pope Francis praises journalists who expose “hardships endured by persecuted minorities,” warning society that losing these voices impoverishes humanity and democracy.
This aligns with the Church’s insistence that truth and accurate information are necessary for conscience and for resisting manipulation that can fuel persecution.
Because “dialogue and negotiation” are “obligatory paths to peace,” Catholic accompaniment should prioritize mediation, reconciliation, and just legal ordering rather than rhetoric that deepens conflict.
Pope Leo XIV reiterates the “categorical rejection of all forms of antisemitism,” and he stresses Jewish-Christian dialogue.
This is directly relevant because hatred toward one religious minority often spreads as a pattern to other minorities.
Catholic teaching on protecting persecuted minorities is centered on human dignity, minority rights to exist and keep their identity (including worship), religious freedom as a cornerstone of just society, and peace built through justice, dialogue, and negotiation—with an absolute rejection of terrorism and hatred.