(ANS – Lahore) – Salesians in Lahore at present accompany 450 young people in their educational journey, from elementary to high school and to professional formation. The person in charge of this is Fr. Pietro Zago, an Italian Salesian missionary, who is committed with the youth in Pakistan since 1998 and who declared: “We help them to become good Christians and good Pakistanis and to live their faith in joy, but also in the saddest circumstances”. Last May 24th, the first Pakistani Salesian was ordained a priest.

In the capital of Pakistani Punjab, with over 11 million inhabitants, fear and prudence can still be felt because of terrorist attacks, and especially after the sadly known “Easter Attack” which took place in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park and which caused 81 victims, most of them children and young people. Since then, the over one thousand public gardens of Lahore are deserted, but the people struck by this tragedy, after the loss of children, relatives and friends, have not lost their faith, which has actually grown stronger.

Fr. Francis Gulzar recalls the attack of March 15th of last year and the firm intervention of Akash Bashir, a young past pupil of the Salesian technical school of Yuhannabad district, where the majority are Christian. He embraced the attacker, making shield of his body; he lost his life, but saved the lives of many more people, preventing them from entering the church that was packed with people. “His courage, his faith, his self denial for the Catholic faithful are an example for all”, remarks Fr. Gulzar.

Pakistan today is living a spring of vocations; many young men want to become priests or consecrated people, offering their life to Christ. In less than one year in Pakistan there have been 23 ordinations to the priesthood, of both religious and diocesan people, and 15 new deacons are preparing to be ordained priests in 2016. In the Minor Seminary of St. Mary there are 26 young men and another 96 are attending the Major Seminary in Lahore, whereas 79 are attending the National Institute of Theology in Karachi. Salesians too are feasting their first Salesian Pakistani priest, who was ordained on last may 24th, on the occasion of the feast of Mary Help of Christians: Fr. Lal Noble.

“Why did I give my life to Pakistan? Because Christ said: whatever you do to the least of these brethren of mine, you did it to me. Without specifying whether these little ones are Christian, Muslim of Hindu”, the Salesian Father said to ‘Famiglia Cristiana’.