Originally published at The Catholic Thing
Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old volunteer security guard, sacrificed himself when he blocked a suicide bomber from entering St John’s Catholic Church in Lahore, Pakistan 10 years ago. As he locked his arms around the terrorist moments before the explosion, his final words were: “I will die, but I will not let you go in.” His martyrdom saved the lives of more than a thousand faithful inside the church at the time. The Vatican has declared him Servant of God, paving the way for him to become the very first saint in the Muslim-majority country’s history.
