Village named after Saint Francis celebrates its first one hundred years
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) Francisabad, a Catholic village located about 120 km from Faisalabad, is celebrating its first one hundred years this year. In an interview with AsiaNews Monsignor Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad, retold the story of the village, its birth and development.
In 1904 Father Philip, a Belgian-born Capuchin missioner, brought 53 Catholic families from Punjab to settle near the Jhang-Branch canal. These early pioneers founded a village that was officially called Chak 500/JB, which Father Philip renamed Francisabad, in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1912 the village church was built.
"Capuchin missioners," Bishop Coutts said, "were successful in doing two things at once, namely find land for poor peasants and spread the word of the Gospel." In fact, German friar Rochus joined Father Philip and, together, acquired 40 murabas (1250 hectares, around 3100 acres) with each family receiving 25 hectares (10 acres). In those early years, people worked hard to clear the land, plough the soil and make it fruitful. However, according to Bishop Coutts, "the high salt level in the soil has now become a threat to local farmers."
Today Dominican sisters run a high school for girls, a health clinic for the sick, a sewing centre for illiterate women. "Muslims from the surrounding villages also benefit from these facilities and their services", Bishop Coutts explains. Indeed, after 99 years of toil in this remote area, the difference is visible," he adds.
A system of irrigation channels has made farming possible in lands once abandoned. Most Francisabad residents are directly involved in farming. Others are employed as daily workers in brick kilns or as woodcutters.
Today the village can claim one bishop (Mgr. Patras Yousaf), three priests, and 26 nuns as its own. One of the nuns is Sr Regina Yuhanna, author of a book on the history of the centennial village.
Celebrations for the village's centennial Jubilee began on December 30, 2003 and will end, the Bishop said, on October 4, Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi in the presence of a papal representative.
Pakistan's population now stands at around 144 million, 96 per cent of whom are Muslim. Christians represent 2.5 per cent or about 3.8 million. Catholics are just under 1.3 million.
Along with Ahmadi Muslims members of an Islamic sect that is considered heretical by mainstream Islam Christians are the most vulnerable religious group in the country. (QF)
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