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CV NEWS FEED // Nearly a decade after his heroic sacrifice, Akash Bashir — the first native-born Pakistani to be considered for sainthood — remains relatively unknown in his homeland, despite efforts by Church leaders and religious communities to promote his legacy.
Bashir, a 20-year-old Catholic, was killed on March 15, 2015 while preventing a suicide bomber from entering St. John’s Catholic Church in Youhanabad, a Christian-majority neighborhood in Lahore, UCA News reported. His actions saved countless lives during coordinated attacks on two churches that day, which left 17 people dead and hundreds injured.
In January 2022, the Vatican recognized Bashir as a Servant of God, the first step in the process toward canonization. However, his grave in a local Catholic cemetery remains largely unvisited, and many Pakistani Catholics are unaware of his story.
“People do not know about him,” Yousaf Masih, a local Catholic who runs a coffin shop near the cemetery, told UCA News. “Either foreigners, priests, or his father visit the grave. Those in the neighborhood know nothing about him.”
Bashir’s younger brother, Ramish, echoed this sentiment, sharing that when he introduced himself as Akash Bashir’s brother during a visit to a church in the national capital Islamabad in August 2024, no one recognized the name.
“I was stopped at the church gate by young volunteers who were conducting security checks. None of them knew who I was,” Ramish told UCA News. “When I introduced myself as Akash Bashir’s younger brother, they had no idea [who he was]. I was proud to see young people continuing the mission of protecting our churches, just as my brother did. But no church group has ever inquired about his grave.”
Despite nationwide prayers at the start of Bashir’s beatification process, awareness of his story has not spread widely. Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi noted that the 25 parishes in his diocese have yet to begin regular prayers for Bashir’s canonization.
Bashir studied at the Salesian-run Don Bosco Technical Institute for Boys before volunteering as a security guard at St. John’s Catholic Church. To honor their former student, the Salesians have made significant efforts to raise awareness of his life and sacrifice. On Jan. 31, 2024, during their silver jubilee celebrations in Pakistan, they unveiled a portrait of Bashir at Don Bosco Institute and launched a book about his life, written by Salesian Brother Piero Ramello.
Brother Ramello said that more than 800 students seek Bashir’s intercession weekly. Although no miracles have yet been attributed to his intercession, Ramello said that for the Salesians “he became a saint the day he died.”
The canonization process also faced challenges when Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore, who had spearheaded the cause, was removed from office in August 2023 following allegations of misconduct. The incident led some clergy to distance themselves from initiatives associated with Shaw, slowing momentum for Bashir’s cause.
Despite these setbacks, Bashir’s family remains hopeful that his story will become more widely known, and plans are underway for a theater production depicting his final hours.
Father Emmanuel Asi, a theologian and founder-director of Maktaba-e-Anaveem Pakistan, a lay forum for contextual theologies, emphasized the need for greater recognition of Bashir’s sacrifice.
“There should have been nationwide prayers, seminars, festivals, portraits, articles, a people-led movement in parishes, an altar boys’ initiative in his name, or an institution dedicated to his memory,” he said. “His martyrdom should be widely recognized.”
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