The Heal Foundation Pakistan provided medical care to 175 patients yesterday at a local Catholic church. Five people were diagnosed with TB and will be followed until they are completely treated. For the local parish priest, Fr Tahir Rauf, it is “serving the people like the apostles”. Looking to the future, he promises, to “conduct a second phase soon.”

According to a survey by Save the Children, 250,000 children are not in school. About 99 per cent of repatriated families face a food crisis, 40 per cent have had to borrow money, one in six lives in tents. Many were born across the border, and Afghanistan "is not the place they call home.”

Saim had left home to get a haircut when a security guard, who had noticed a cross necklace on the boy, started to ask him to recite Islamic prayers. The young man, after refusing, was forced to ingest a harmful substance.

According to the UN health agency, about 3,500 people die of viral hepatitis every day. The highest number is in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Despite improvements in diagnostic testing, huge disparities still exist in access to drugs.

Bishop Indrias Rehmat chose Fr Abid Tanvir, former diocese vicar general, as parish priest. Two catechists were also appointed to work with him. Admired and visited by Muslims, the church named after Saint Anthony was inaugurated last year. The bishop urged the faithful “to make this beautiful church stronger in spirituality.”

In the village of Gujranwala, a family row became the pretext for a video accusing a pastor of burning the Qur'an. The authorities and the local community acted quickly to quell religious tensions. Fr Rashid Asi hopes this case will set a “precedent for the entire nation to properly investigate any allegations brought against anyone.”