The Archbishop of Karachi has thanked Catholics in Britain for their prayers following the Easter Sunday bombing in Lahore, Pakistan. At least 70 people were killed, including 29 children, and 300 injured in an attack targeting Christians who were celebrating Easter in a park. Most of the victims were Muslim. Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton celebrated Mass for the victims of the bombing. The Mass took place last Saturday at St Nicholas of Tolentino church in Bristol. In his message of thanks for Bishop Lang’s support, Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi said: “All of us in Pakistan live in a state of constant tension, even though the government has taken measures to counteract terrorism. Your words of solidarity and your prayers are therefore a great encouragement for us all. We feel that we are not alone.” Bishop Lang, chairman of the bishops’ conference department for international affairs, said that the bombing in a public park in Lahore was only the latest such atrocity. “Last year 100 homes of Christians were burnt down in one part of Lahore, and churches have been bombed,” he said. “We pray that the authorities in Pakistan will act decisively to guarantee religious freedom and to bring all forms of religious persecution of minorities to an end. “We pray also for the Church in Pakistan which has shown such courage and faith, that their and our response to the atrocities they suffer will be truly Christ-like: expressing love’s victory over evil, in the words of the dying Crucified One: ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do,’ ” he said. In his message of thanks Archbishop Coutts said: “Thank you very much for your message of sympathy and solidarity as we in Pakistan once again suffered the consequences of a suicide bomb attack. “In March 2015 it was a simultaneous attack on two churches, one Protestant and the other Catholic. In December 2014 it was a massacre of over 100 boys and some teachers in a public school which was 100 per cent Muslim. “Christians as well as Muslims are being targeted. This time the terrorists chose a ‘soft’ target, a public park on a Sunday, because all churches and schools are now better guarded than before.” Archbishop Coutts concluded: “Trusting in the hope and power of the Risen Lord, we shall continue to witness to our faith in this challenging situation. Sincere thanks for your prayer support.” In the wake of the Easter Sunday attack in Lahore, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, asked for prayers for the dead and wounded. “The perversity of evil knows no bounds,” the cardinal said. “It sinks to a new low of hatred in deliberately targeting women and children celebrating their Easter Day in peace. This despicable act, aimed at Christians, is utterly contemptible and condemned just as we fervently pray for those who have died and been wounded. Evil will never defeat goodness, as has been demonstrated, once and for all, in the Resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ, our Lord.”