This work includes injustice against vulnerable groups, forced conversion (especially of minors), human rights, justice and peace, social justice, and women's empowerment. Below is the documentation Fr. Lazar Aslam and the ministry have compiled and shared — case by case, drawn from established news agencies covering religious minorities in Pakistan.
Injustice Against Vulnerable Groups
Among the cases this ministry has advocated on is that of Maria Shahbaz, a Christian minor whose case became a rallying point for the Christian community's call for stronger enforcement of laws protecting minors from child marriage. The ministry presents this as part of its broader human-rights casework, not as an isolated story, alongside the wider debate over marriage-age reform and its effect on religious minorities in Pakistan.
- Child marriages and the case of Christian Maria Shahbaz: Christian community calls for respect for laws protecting minors
- Pakistan child marriage reform meets minority rights reality
Forced Conversion (Especially of Minors)
Fr. Lazar's advocacy has also documented cases of forced conversion and violent attacks on young Christians for refusing to convert, alongside the Franciscans' broader interreligious commitment to defusing social and religious tensions.
- ASIA/PAKISTAN — During Advent, testimony of unity and interreligious cooperation to promote peaceful coexistence
- ASIA/PAKISTAN — The commitment of the Franciscans: interreligious dialogue defuses religious and social tensions
- Young Christian in Pakistan Brutally Attacked for Refusing to Convert to Islam
- Pakistan: Young Christian suffers brutal attack
- Young Christian brutally attacked in Pakistan
- ASIA/PAKISTAN — After the murder of a Presbyterian priest: Christians pray for peace during Advent
- ASIA/PAKISTAN — Five new Franciscan friars to bring the Gospel in the "land of the Taliban"
- Pakistani Christian brutally stabbed at work after refusing to convert to Islam
Human Rights
The ministry also tracks blasphemy-law abuses and their toll on the Christian community, and pays tribute to those who have paid the ultimate price for their faith — including Akash Bashir, the young security guard honored as a Servant of God for giving his life to protect worshippers from a suicide bomber (read the full tribute on the Current Affairs page).
- ASIA/PAKISTAN — A Christian arrested for blasphemy on social media; the Committee for Peace: "No one would do it intentionally"
- Lahore pays tribute to Akash Bashir 10 years after his martyrdom
- The "blasphemy business" in Pakistan: a 22-year-old Christian attacked in Lahore
- Altar boy goes into hiding, could face death penalty over false allegation
Justice and Peace
- I am here to proclaim peace
- In Pakistan, Christians resist violence in hope
- Pakistan: Franciscan friar warns of anti-Christian persecution
Social Justice & Women's Empowerment
Alongside casework, the ministry supports free medical outreach and food distribution for laborers and families in need, and stands for the empowerment of women in vulnerable communities.
