Christians represent about 3% of Pakistan’s population of 190 million people. Many among them are descendants of “untouchables’ (the lowest level of the Hindu cast system) who have been converted during the British presence in India.

    In Pakistan, where 95% of the population is Muslim, minorities are exposed to multiple forms of discrimination. Many Christians perform menial tasks like street sweeping or sewer cleaning. In Islamabad, most of them live in the Colonies, sort of slums or poor neighborhoods which are not always provided with the basic services like water and sanitation. Catholics, Protestants or Orthotodox Christians often celebrate Sunday Mass in overcrowded makeshift Churches.

    In the recent years, many people have been killed by angry mobs or vigilantes on the suspicion of blasphemy. The Blasphemy law in Pakistan prohibits blaphemy against any religion, and whoever is accused of it, could be subject to jail or death penalty. However Rights activists denounced this law as regularely used to persecute minorities.

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    Fransiscan nuns visit the remains of a burnt Church, in a Christian neighborhood of Lahore. The Church was burnt along with dozens of homes by a Muslim mob in retaliation for alleged blasphemy against Islam's prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo)

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    (AP Photo)

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    An elderly man gets his beard trimmed before Christmas in the alley of a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad.

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    A group of children playing next to a Church in Islamabad.

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    The entrance of a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad. Most Colonies lack basic services, like water or sanitation.

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    Women chant during Sunday Mass in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Friends and relatives of Nazia, 22, center, prepare her before her wedding, in a Christian colony of Islamabad. According to the tradition, the bride is supposed to leave her parents' home the same night of the wedding ceremony, to go live with her husband's family.

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    Pakistani Christian, Nazia Mansoor, 26, and her sister in their home, in islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    A Christian girl uses candles at home, during one of several daily power cuts.

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    A Church, in the French Colony, one of the several Christian neighborhoods of islamabad.

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    A muddy alley overflooded by rain, in a Christian Colony of Islamabad.

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    Families and neighbors gather around a fire before Christmas, in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad.

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    Father Anthony David John blesses a home in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad, as part of his weekly visits to the worshippers' home of his community.

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    Pakistanis are seen next to their tents where they took shelter after a Muslim mob burnt dozens of houses, in a Christian neighborhood of Lahore, in retaliation for alleged blasphemy against Islam's prophet Muhammad.

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    Children play during sunset, in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad.

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    Christmas in Islamabad

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    Sunday Mass in Islamabad. In the colonies, hundreds of worshippers gather every Sunday in overcrowded Churches. (AP Photo)

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    Pakistanis rebuilt burnt homes, in a Christian neighborhood of Lahore. The houses were burnt with dozens of others by a Muslim mob in retaliation for alleged blasphemy against Islam's prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo)

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    A woman receives blessings in her home from the Parish priest, Father Anthony David John, who visit almost daily the families of his neighborhood.

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    A makeshift Church in a slum of Islamabad.

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    Churches in all the country are exposed to regular threats, especially during the celebration period. Here, a private security, Anwar Butta, poses as he guards the entrance of a Chuch during a Christmas Mass in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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    Nazia, 22, is surrounded by friends and relatives while walking out of her home to the Church, to get married with her groom, in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad.

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    Families gather on the rooftop of a home, to attend the evening prayer. (AP Photo)

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    A barber shop in a Christian neighborhood of Islamabad.

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    Pakistani children play in a Christian neigbhorhood of Islamabad.

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    A Christian family on the rooftop of its home, in Islamabad. (AP Photo)

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