Pakistan: New houses for catechists in Kunri, Hyderabad

Celebration of the Eucharist in the St Benedict church in Kunri. @ACN
Celebration of the Eucharist in the St Benedict church in Kunri. @ACN

"They are trapped in a net of fatalism, despair and fear and exist on the very lowest rung of the social and economic ladder", writes Father James Kajoo, currently the parish priest in Kunri, describing the situation of his parishioners. By way of explanation he adds, "For the most part they work for big Muslim landowners, to whom they have become indebted and hence dependent." He is speaking of the people of the Parkari Kohli and Punjabi tribes. Over 60% of the 700 Catholic families in his parish come originally from the Parkari Kohlis, a Hindu tribe that finds itself marginalised in Pakistan. The remaining 40% of his parish belong to the Punjabi people who who like their neighbours have to work as low paid day labourers and, like them, have absolutely no status in Pakistani society. The Punjabis were the first native tribe to embrace the Catholic faith, when the Franciscans came to Kunri in the 1950s and began to preach among the poor and despised.

It was the Franciscans who established the parish here. Its catchment area is vast, and it takes a good 2 ½ hours to drive from one end of it to the other, Fr Kajoo estimates. And he should know, for every time he has to visit the Catholics in the remoter villages of his parish he has to set out in his old and battered car and drive with great care in order not to hit any major potholes. There is a great deal of illiteracy in the villages, above all among the women, who have a lower status than the men in this culture and can mostly neither read nor write. The pastoral team in the parish of Kunri, consisting of Fr Kajoo, another priest, two nuns and three catechists, is striving to help them in every possible way. Education is the key to escaping poverty and consequently one of their highest priorities. So in addition to teaching the people about God and instructing them in their faith, they also care for their health and well-being and teach them to read and write. In short, they treat them like their own brothers and sisters and so restore to them their sense of human dignity. "Our dream is to help our people grow in confidence and self-esteem", says Fr Kajoo. And they are succeeding. With every new letter that these downtrodden people learn to read and write, there grows within them a sense of self-worth that their low social status has hitherto always denied them.

At present the three catechists live together with Father Kajoo in the presbytery, since their own accommodation on the same site has become uninhabitable. There are three huts altogether, all of them built in the 1950s as temporary accommodation for the workers who were building the Catholic hospital at the time. Thanks to the good care taken by the catechists, the houses have already lasted much longer than anyone would have thought possible, "but now the state of these houses has become so pitiful that it is no longer possible to maintain them or render them habitable", Father James explains. Everywhere there are holes and gaps in the outside walls, and the roofs have partially collapsed. The floor level is lower than the adjoining street, so that the rainwater easily pours in. The rest of the damage was done by an earth tremor that shook the region a few years ago. Now the buildings are beyond repair and must be torn down and rebuilt. Father James has asked ACN to help towards the cost, and we have promised a contribution of €15,000. In fact work has already begun in April this year.

To know about this and many other similar projects in favour of the pastoral needs of the suffering Church, please contact our national offices.