The Community of Sant'Egidio remembers with simpathy and love Mgr. Anthony Theodore Lobo, Bishop Emeritus ofIslamabad, a dear friend, who died on Febraury 18th, at the age of 75, after a long illness.

He was a good Shepherd, concerned to give dignity to the small Catholic community in Pakistan, also through promoting the education of the youth, to whom he devoted so much energies. Among them, he also encouraged the young Shahbaz Bhatti to continue his studies. Mr. Bhatti later became Minister for minorities, dying in an ambush inMarch 2011.

Originally from Goa, a Portuguese colony in the heart of India, Bihsop Lobo moved to Karachi before the partition(which also caused the independence of Pakistan); he’s been a student in Paris in the years of the Second Vatican Council, thus becoming a man of culture and of deep prayer.

His meeting with Andrea Riccardi and with the Community of Sant'Egidio created an intense friendship between them, made of paternal care for the development of Sant'Egidio in Pakistan and of frequent participation to the International Meetings of dialogue among religions and cultures, promoted by the Community itself. He was among the first ones tojoin in the movement of Bishops Friends of the Community of Sant'Egidio, as he also encouraged other Pakistani Bishops to participate.

	Today we remember with gratitude and affection his words: "I ​​came from a quite traditional priestly formation and from a Country of the third world. After the conclusion of the Council, I came to know with surprise that in the very same period the Holy Spirit aroused in the Church such a beautiful and important charisma, precisely from young people". His life - totally dedicated to the dream of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan - remains for us a testimony of which we are grateful, and a legacy of love for his Country and his Church.
Roma 2006  - In Sant'Egidio with Andrea Riccardi and mgr. Vincenzo Paglia
Milan 2004 International Meeting of World Religions  for Peace	Roma, 2007 Congress "Christians and pastors for the Church of tomorrow"