The Pakistani-Christian: The Contested ‘Martyrdom’ of Bishop John Joseph
On May 6, 1998, Bishop John Joseph shot himself in the front of the Sessions Court in Sahiwal, Pakistan to protest the country’s blasphemy law which were being weaponized and misused against the country’s minority communities. His death sent shockwaves throughout the country. The Bishop’s suicide made him an instant martyr and folk saint to millions of Pakistani Christians, Catholic and Protestant. It left the country’s government in an awkward position as Pakistani diplomats reported being increasingly grilled by foreign media and counterparts over the country’s blasphemy laws. The Roman Catholic Church itself was stunned and deeply uncomfortable with the idea that a Bishop would commit a protest suicide. And finally Islamic hardliners themselves doubled down on their position, fearing the sympathy the Bishop’s suicide brought would cause the government to backtrack on blasphemy laws.
Understanding the context, impact and reception of the Bishop’s suicide requires an in depth look at Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and the situation of the Punjabi Christian community, from which the Bishop came from. The legacy of his death continues to this day, with the Bishop being revered as a folk saint, despite receiving no recognition from church authorities themselves, arguably making him the most important figure in Pakistani Christianity.
Note: This is the second of a three part series on Christianity in Pakistan. Read part one here. Read part three here.
The Life of Bishop John Joseph
John Joseph was born on November 15, 1932 in the Roman Catholic canal colony village of Khushpur, Punjab province, Pakistan. His village was established, decades earlier, by missionaries seeking to provide the mostly landless and impoverished Christian converts of the colonial era with land of their own after a canal building project made 1000s of acres of semi-arid scrublands hospitable for farming.
He was the fifth of ten children, and was described as intelligent and headstrong from a very young age. He belonged to the first generation of Punjabi Catholic priests, as prior to that the priesthood of Pakistan was comprised of Europeans and Pakistani-Goans, who occupied a higher socio-economic position than Punjabi-Catholics. He received his religious education at the Christ the King Seminary in Karachi and was ordained in Faisalabad on January 18, 1960. On October 24, 1980 he was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Faisalabad.
Bishop John Joseph was especially remembered by all who met him for his commitment to advocating for the Christian community. He maintained an open doors policy and was quick to provide aid or advocacy to whomever needed it. This made him extremely popular among the poor and downtrodden who made up the majority of the country’s population.
However his style also raised some eyebrows. Bishop Joseph’s approach to advocacy was considerably more headstrong than what the Pakistani Catholic Church was used to. Bishop Joseph arranged protests, sit ins, hunger strikes and openly condemned those organization whom he felt threatened the welfare of the Christian community. The rest of the Bishop’s especially the Goan old guard felt this would bring few results and stir up even more anti-Christian sentiments among the people. They opted for a more behind the scenes approach, attempting to forge stronger ties with politicians and liberal organizations sympathetic to minority rights. This strategy had its limitations but also its successes, they had even once convinced the terrorist group Sipah-e-Sahaba, which was tied to dozens of anti-Christian attacks, to intervene in a case of a Christian girl who was kidnapped by a much older man for the purpose of marriage and forced conversion.
However as anti-Christian sentiments rose in the country consistently throughout the second half of the 20th century these approaches were increasingly viewed as complacent and weak willed by the Pakistani Christian lay population. This led to some toe-stepping as Bishop’s reported that Bishop Joseph was arranging interventions in their diocese without even bother to consult them.
In the days leading up to his protest-suicide Bishop Joseph did not seem out of the ordinary to those closest to him. He had zero issues with alcoholism, drug abuse, mental health, nor did his death reveal any skeletons in his closet. This combined with his writings suggest this was a strongly pre-meditated act of protest.
His death took place on the day of a major protest against the execution of a Christian man whom was sentenced to death for a phony, unproven blasphemy allegation. In a letter dated the day before, the Bishop had wrote on how the church had retained lawyers who had filed a case against the execution but were not hopeful for the outcome. He wrote an even larger sacrifice is needed. He reiterated the need for this sacrifice at a speech he’d given at the protest prior to committing suicide.
Post-Independence Pakistan and the Christian
Bishop Joseph’s life as a clergyman coincided during a major period of change and transition for Pakistani Christians. Within the Catholic Church, leadership had already transitioned from the Europeans to the Pakistani-Goans, and over the second half of the 20th century was transitioning again from the Goans to the Punjabi-Catholics who made up the overwhelming majority of the country’s Catholic population. The small Goan community itself was going into decline due to the increasing migration to the West. The Punjabi Catholics were the descendants of lower caste people who were often marginalized by the wider community and permitted only to perform tasks viewed as unclean or servile in nature. Though the Christians of the independent canal colony farming towns were significantly had seen notable upward mobility, benefiting from land ownership and education, many Punjabi Christians still lived at the bottom of the social pyramid.
Pakistani Christians were positive towards the independence of Pakistan and are notable for making several major contributions to its military (especially air force), education and healthcare sector. Unfortunately though, the independence of Pakistan sparked several new trends which began to negatively impact the Christian community.
Christian run schools were noted for their high standards and quality of teaching and as a result laws were passed to nationalize them. This could be understandable had standards been maintained but unfortunately many saw an instant sharp decline in teaching. Funds were siphoned off by corruption, new teachers were being hired based on recommendations and lacked the training to work as educators. Since then new church run schools have opened as the law stated any church schools opened after the inception of the law would be exempt.
Furthermore, Pakistani Christians had begun to report increasing hostility and violence from religious extremists whose influence among the public was growing. There had been several instances of riots targeting Christian neighborhoods were resulted in thousands of homes being lost or ransacked. Increasing reports of Christians girls being kidnapped and forced against their will to convert to Islam, with little help from the police or legal system. Furthermore, new proposed laws such as the identification card system that would list religion brought up fears that it would be misused to discriminate against Christians, Hindus, Shia Muslims and Ahmadi Muslims by the Sunni Muslim majority.
While some communities like the Anglo-Indians and Goans were able to buffer themselves from this with their wealth and long established privledged the Punjabi Christian majority found themselves increasingly persecuted and trapped at the bottom. It was at this time that parents increasingly began to teach their children to avoid the topic of religion and avoid getting into arguments with Muslims for fear that it may escalate into a communal issue.
Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan
During the 1980s changes to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws which criminalize any insults towards Islam along with greater awareness of the existence of these laws brought about a new wave of violence against Christians. The laws were frequently misused and weaponized during financial or land disputes involving a Muslim and a Christian. A mere accusation was enough to trigger vigilante mob violence that targeted the accused, their family and broader community. Quite often, even if the courts found the person not guilty the hostility from extremists in the local community could be so strong that the individual could never return back home.
Between 1986 and 2007 50% of those charged with blasphemy offences have been non-Muslims (who only make up 3% of the country). Furthermore, though no judicial execution has happened for blasphemy dozens of people accused for it have been murdered by mob violence and supposed vigilantes. In this environment minorities often found even practicing their own religion or going about their business could be a risk. A religious leaflet distributed amongst Christians in one town ended up in the hands of local Muslims who declared it to be blasphemy (as Jesus Christ is not the son of God in Islam). Many Christians found handling business and land disputes risky should the defendant suddenly threaten blasphemy (a suspiciously large number of accusers happen to have a pre-existing dispute against the accused).
Opposing the law itself is dangerous too, with one politicians like Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti being murdered by extremists for their support for the wrongly accused. Taseer’s killer, Mumtaz Qadri, was executed by the state but had so much public support his tomb became a shrine and a mosque was named after him as an honor.
The Christian Reaction to Bishop Joseph’s Protest-Suicide
Bishop John Joseph’s suicide triggered an outpouring of grief and intensified respect from, not just Pakistani Catholics, but Protestants too. His protest-suicide was viewed as a selfless martyrdom that sealed his reputation as the ‘People’s Bishop’. Many Pakistani Christians viewed him as comparable to Saint Oscar Romero. To this day, memorials and celebrations of his life are held and he is widely venerated by Christians across the country.
The response from the Vatican was more muted. Privately they viewed his protest-suicide as an embarrassment. A week later, an international Catholic weekly called The Tablet released a carefully worded statement that condemned his suicide but also said to honor those who believe the Bishop’s suicide was ‘the self-sacrificial act of a hero’.
This wasn’t the first time the Catholic Church faced such an challenge. The 1969 immolation of the Czech student Jan Palach in opposition to the Soviet invasion of his country resulted in Pope Paul VI making a very balanced statement saying…
“We can uphold the values that put self-sacrifice above others to the supreme tests. We cannot approved the tragic form taken on behalf of their aims”
Throughout the Church’s history as well there have been accounts of people being venerated as saints for their actions by lay Catholics despite the Church refusing to recognize it as such. The 1600s Sister Benedetta Carlini was one example. Followers flocked to her for her stigmata and visions but the Church had sentenced her to a convent prison where followers flocked till her death in 1661.
The Catholic Church is unlikely to ever provide any official recognition to Bishop John Joseph, though in Pakistan they must avoid opposing him due to his widespread popularity among the public and many priests who refer to him with title’s like Awami Bishop (people’s bishop) and Shahid John Joseph (shahid is an honorific for martyrs). Following his death several miracles were reported and documented involving him as well, none officially investigated and confirmed by the Church though.
Even to this day memorials marking his death happen regularly and videos honoring him can be found on YouTube. Without context he remains the most important figure in Pakistani Christianity, be it from a spiritual standpoint or a historic one. His life and death, closely intertwined with the fate and experiences of the Pakistani Christian people.
