Islamabad, April 9 (NationPress) - Bishops in Pakistan have voiced significant concern following the Federal Constitutional Court's decision to uphold the marriage of a Christian minor. The Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (PCBC) has highlighted the inconsistent application of laws prohibiting marriage under the age of 18, labeling this selective enforcement of legislation as profoundly alarming, as reported.

PCBC President Bishop Samson Shukardin emphasized that cases concerning abducted Christian girls are being addressed in a manner that is not consistent with the law. In a separate 'Statement of Protest and Urgent Denial', Catholic Archbishop Khalid Rehmat OFM Cap of Lahore conveyed his discontent regarding the court's ruling in a case involving a Christian girl, as noted in a report by Eurasia Review.

The minority community reacted with outrage after a two-judge panel of Pakistan's Federal Constitutional Court, on March 25, ruled that the marriage between Christian girl Maria Bibi and Muslim man Sheheryar Ahmed was valid. The court dismissed a petition from Bibi’s father, Shahbaz Masih, who claimed his daughter, approximately 13 years old, was unlawfully detained in July 2025. While the law penalizes underage marriage, the court stated that such marriages are not automatically invalid.

On April 5, during Easter celebrations, Christians in Pakistan offered prayers for safeguarding Christian girls from abduction, forced conversion, and coerced marriages, following the recent court ruling.

According to the report from Eurasia Review, since the court's ruling on March 25, there have been protests from the Christian community against this decision, which has been seen as a potential catalyst for more incidents involving the abduction of Christian and Hindu girls, forced conversions, and coerced marriages.

On April 4, over 200 Christians participated in a protest rally organized by the Catholic Church’s human rights organization, the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), led by Bishop Simon Shukardeen, in Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Christian organizations assert that this legal interpretation essentially endorses child marriage, which they argue contradicts Pakistani law, ethical standards, and international human rights norms. They view the ruling as indicative of a conservative judicial stance. The verdict has not only sparked domestic backlash but has also attracted international scrutiny. Aftab Alexander Mughal, Editor of Minority Concern Pakistan and a former Executive Secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of Pakistan, noted in Eurasia Review that UK parliamentarians have expressed significant concern regarding this verdict.

While acknowledging Pakistan’s judicial autonomy, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pakistani Minorities in the UK observed that this case is part of a broader, well-documented trend involving the kidnapping, forced conversion, and marriage of girls from religious minority communities, particularly Christians and Hindus.