VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis condemned on Sunday suicide attacks on two churches in Lahore and accused the world of “seeking to hide” the persecution of Christians.

“It’s with pain, much pain that I was told of the terrorist attacks against two Christian churches in Lahore in Pakistan, which have caused numerous deaths and injuries,” the pope said after his weekly Angelus prayer in Rome.

“These are Christian churches and Christians are persecuted, our Christian brothers are spilling their blood simply because they are Christians,” he said.

“I implore God... that this persecution against Christians — that the world seeks to hide — comes to an end and that there is peace,” he added.

The spiritual leader of Roman Catholics worldwide regularly condemns violence against Christians in Iraq and Syria and other regions.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2015

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