FAISALABAD (PAKISTAN)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
September 3, 2024
By Kamran Choudhry
Father Naveed Thomas was removed from pastoral responsibilities following allegations of rape
A rape-accused Catholic priest, who was removed from pastoral duties in Pakistan, has been arrested on charges of criminal intimidation after he allegedly threatened to kill Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad.
Father Naveed Thomas was arrested on Aug. 31 after additional district and sessions judge Amjad Ali Bajwa canceled his bail over a case filed by Adil Masih, a security guard at the Faisalabad Bishop’s House, on Aug. 14.
The priest was taken into custody from the court, said the Faisalabad Bishop’s House media coordinator Ijaz Bhatti.
On Aug. 9, when denied permission to enter the bishop’s house, Thomas became angry and “started hurling abuse at the bishop, took out a pistol and threatened to kill him,” Masih said the complaint filed at Rail Bazar police station in Faisalabad.
Thomas demanded about US$12,500 and later uploaded a salacious video about the prelate on social media in which he alleged the bishop of homosexual acts.
According to diocesan officials, Thomas is angry with the bishop for suspending him in February after the priest was accused in a rape case when he served as a parish priest of St Pius X Church in Chak Jhumra, a village of poor Christians in Faisalabad diocese.
Father Khalid Mukhtar, a senior priest from Faisalabad diocese, said Thomas has been temporarily suspended from his pastoral duties “as the diocese is conducting a probe against him in the rape case.”
In June, a Catholic laborer Zulfaqar Masih accused Thomas of raping his 19-year-old daughter, arranging for an abortion when she became pregnant, and blackmailing and threatening his family four months after the priest was suspended based on information given by the family members to the bishop.
Thomas had managed to secure bail in the rape case. According to the investigation officer Naila Zafar, there is no evidence against the priest.
Thomas’ mobile phone contained no evidence during a forensic examination, she told UCA News.
Akmal Bhatti, the Faisalabad-based Catholic chairman of Minorities Alliance Pakistan, claimed the priest had influenced the investigation.
“Medical examination of the victim is more important than forensic examination of a mobile phone in a rape case,” he said.
Two Catholic churches in Faisalabad have hosted meetings in support of Rehmat where parishioners condemned Thomas and sought his dismissal by the Vatican.
This June, the Faisalabad diocese dismissed allegations of corruption leveled against its bishop by Thomas.
Last month, the Vatican removed Franciscan Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore from office following years of alleged sexual misconduct and financial fraud.