Exactly seven years have passed since that March 15, 2015, the day when young Akash Bashir, a Past Pupil of Don Bosco, sacrificed himself to prevent a suicide bomber from causing a massacre in St. John's Church in Youhannabad, a Christian neighborhood in Lahore, Pakistan. Akash Bashir was 20 years old, had studied at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Lahore, and had become a security volunteer.
The Catholic Church of Pakistan awaits with great anticipation this event which marks the beginning of the First Cause of Beatification and Canonization for Christians in Pakistan.
The Actor of the Cause is the Salesian Congregation, Co-Petitioner the World Confederation of Past Pupils of Don Bosco, Postulator Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, SDB, Vice-Postulator Gabriel de Jesús Cruz Trejo, SDB.
Bryan Magro, World President of the Past Pupils of Don Bosco, wrote: "The testimony of Akash Bashir, who gave his life until death, has left a profound impression on us as Past Pupils of Don Bosco and on the entire Salesian Family. We cannot and do not want to lose the memory of young Akash. His simple and normal life is undoubtedly an extremely meaningful and important example for the young Christians of Lahore, all of Pakistan, and the Salesian world. The life and martyrdom of this young Pakistani, only 20 years old, makes us recognize the power of the Holy Spirit of God, alive, present in the least expected places, in the humble, in the persecuted, in the young, in God's little ones. Akash Bashir, a Salesian alumnus of Pakistan, is testimony to Don Bosco's Preventive System, an example for our young people and a blessing for religious minorities."
