A bomb went off at the main gate of a Christian colony in the Pakistani city of Chaman on Dec. 2, killing a 7-year-old boy and two others, police said, the latest incident of violence in the restive south-western province of Baluchistan. “It was a hand grenade which caused the explosion at the colony’s gate,” Gul Mohammad, a police officer, told English daily Dawn. “The blast also smashed windows in nearby homes,” he said.

The Christian boy killed in the blast has been identified as Lucky Saleem, according to the police officer. The injured were rushed to the Chaman Hospital for medical treatment.

The attack in Chaman took place the day after Taliban gunmen wearing burqas stormed a college in the country’s northwestern region, killing nine people, mostly students. A Taliban faction claimed the responsibility of the attack and said that Peshawar Agriculture Institute was a safe house for intelligence officials. Both the terrorist attacks happened as Muslims were celebrating Milid Miladun Nabi (the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad).

In a press statement, Baluchistan Chief Minister Nawaz Sanaullah condemned the blast and expressed sorrow at the loss of innocent life.

He directed the authorities to ensure the best medical care for the injured.

The chief minister ordered the security forces to apprehend those terrorist elements involved in the terrorist attack.

Shezan William, Executive Secretary of Caritas Quetta, condemned the blast.

“Christians live in scattered communities across the biggest province and are rarely attacked. The attack has raised concerns for the safety of churches especially in Christmas gatherings. We are in close contact with locals of the attacked colony and praying for the affected families,” William told.

At least a thousand people joined the funeral march for Father Marcelito Paez, a 72-year-old Catholic priest murdered on Dec. 4 on the main Philippine island of Luzon.

The activist priest was ambushed four hours after facilitating the release of a political prisoner.

More than 100 priests conducted the mass with two Filipino bishops – San Jose Bishop Roberto Mallari and Cabanatuan Bishop Sofronio Bancud – presiding at the Eucharistic celebration.

Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, the Papal Nuncio, attended the mass at the Saint Joseph Cathedral in San Jose, in the province of Nueva Ecija. He did not give any message and priests billed his presence as “a silent form of solidarity and prayer.”

Tears flowed as mourners lined up to pay their last respects to Fr Paez, a retired priest who was a national board member and Central Luzon coordinator for the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

He was buried in the Sto. Niño Cemetery in San Jose.

Fr Paez’s casket was placed on the floor to symbo-lize his life as a temporary gift from God.

Peers of the priest said it also symbolized Fr Paez’s humility and decades of ser-vice to the poorest Filipinos.

The bishops wore red and violet stoles to proclaim the priest’s “martyrdom.”

Bishop Mallari said that Father Paez’s, when gravely wounded, told one of his assailants, “I am a priest,” prompting a retreat by the man preparing to give him the final shot.

“Father Paez, like a shepherd, vowed to die first before harm reached his flock,” the bishop said.

He did not retreat from danger.

Fr Paez’s death, the bishop said, should prompt clergy and laity to question the meaning of his sacrifice in terms of both personal change and change within the church.

For the past five years, Father Joseph Kalathil has been deli-vering letters to students in India and Pakistan, despite deep politi-cal animosity between the regi-onal arch-rivals. And this year, the Jesuit priest based in Chandig-arh, northern India, arrived at the Pakistani border on foot.

He informed fellow Jesuits in Pakistan about his presence at Wagah border crossing, located 24 kilometres from Lahore, in Pakistan’s Punjab Province.

“After getting through the passport control, it was only a five minutes’ walk and I was in another country,” Father Kalathil told.

The director of his self-styled “Peace Mission” delivered hand-written letters from 32 students at three Indian schools to two Catholic schools in Faisalabad diocese in Pakistan during his Oct. 22 to Nov. 9 visit.

He returned with parcels and replies to the letters he delivered.

Since 2012, he has delivered hundreds of similar colourful letters between students at educational institutes in the neighbouring countries. “I wanted to start with children,” he said. “I do not discuss religion or politics. Instead we discuss human rights, peace and friendship.” Sometimes young people rejected him, calling India an enemy.

Pope Francis waved to crowds from the backseat of one of Bangladesh’s typical bicycle pulled rickshaws en route to a meeting of interfaith leaders at the residence of Dhaka’s archbishop.

Bangladeshi dancers serenad-ed him as he made his way to the stage for the event, where he was to meet with Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.

Francis has shunned the bullet-proof popemobiles of his predecessors, opting instead for open-sided vehicles so he can personally greet the crowds when he goes on foreign trips. In South Asia, that has meant a few spins in modified golf carts.

Francis isn’t the first Pope to ride a rickshaw. However St John Paul II rode in one when he visited Bangladesh in 1986.

Pope Francis led a giant open-air mass in Dhaka on Dec 1 ahead of finally coming face to face with Rohingya refugees whose desperate plight has dominated his landmark tour of Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Around 100,000 Bangladeshi Catholics crammed into a park in central Dhaka, cheering and chanting “viva il papa” (“long live the Pope”) as Francis was driven through the crowd in an open-sided popemobile made specially for the occasion.

A Bangladeshi Catholic priest who was abducted in the north-east on Nov 27, ahead of the visit of Pope Francis to the country, was found alive in Sylhet city on December 1. Fr Walter William Rozario is said to have fled from his kidnappers and got in touch with his family, his elder brother Bimal Rozariao told Star Online.

Vatican reporter in Dhaka, Sartre Xavier who has been in touch with the assistant parish priest of Fr. Walter, said Fr. Walter’s elder brother and the police have talked to the assistant parish priest about the rescue.

Father John Luu Ngoc Quynh from the Redemptorist Community in Hanoi was stopped by security officials at Noi Bai Airport on Dec. 5 and prevented from traveling to France, the community said in a statement. He is the second Redemptorist priest to be prevented from leaving the country this year. Father Quynh was invited to attend the vow-taking ceremony of a Vietnamese Cistercian on Dec. 8 in France, the statement added. The Cistercian is one of the priest’s alumni. Security officers told Father Quynh that he “was banned from traveling abroad for the protection of national security, social order and safety.”