The Archbishops have called churches throughout this province to pray for Anglicans in Pakistan this coming Sunday following the suicide bombing attack on the people of All Saints Peshawar.

The death toll from last Sunday’s attack is now 85, with some churchgoers still unaccounted for and feared dead, and more than 200 people maimed or injured.

Our Archbishops have asked for parishes and dioceses and hui amorangi “to pray for those who died, for those who mourn on their behalf, and for those who were injured or live in fear on account of the attack.”

Archbishop Philip said the Apostle Paul’s counsel in Romans 12 to a community living among violence and persecution had come to his mind: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Archbishops Brown and Winston said that when people in this province prayed on Sunday, they would be starting a rolling wave of Communion-wide prayer for Anglicans in Pakistan.

Messages of condolences from throughout the Communion have come to the Bishop of Peshawar, Humphrey Peters, and to the Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Samuel Azariah – as well as to Kenneth Kearon, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion.

Canon Kearon, in turn, has relayed a request to all provinces to pray for their fellow Anglicans in Pakistan this Sunday.