The coinciding of the beginnings of Lent and Ramadan this year “offers a unique opportunity to further strengthen interreligious harmony,” a Pakistani archbishop wrote in his Ramadan greetings to the Muslim community.
“Churches and mosques should be centers of compassion, peace, and love,” said Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The shared practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, he added, are “a powerful testament to the fact that faith is not a source of division but rather a means of mercy, solidarity, and unity.”
Islam is the official religion of the South Asian nation of 257 million (map), the fifth most populous in the world. 95% of Pakistan’s people are Muslim, 2% are Christian, and 1% are Hindu.