Catholic Among the Taliban

Interesting piece at AsiaNews. Link. Excerpt:

"From when I was young, I tried to enter the mosque like everyone else," recalled M. "But the others prevented me from doing so and they accused me of not being a Muslim. I did not understand but I saw small signs, which made me think that my family and me were different: no one wanted to eat with us, they said they would prefer to have a dog touch the bread rather than us. We lived an isolated life without friends. When I tried to play with other children, they kept their distance from me, at school they mocked me and beat me. All families kept at least one weapon per member at home; we only had an old hunting rifle hung on the wall, which my father rarely used. My companions offended me, using the word Isai: I thought it meant 'criminal' or 'assassin' and I felt dirty. Meanwhile, I continued to press my father for explanations. I would see him and my mother say the rosary (at the time I did not even know what it was) and I looked at the image of Jesus and the Virgin Mary hung on the wall in one of the rooms of the house, which was always kept closed. I would ask and demand, my father would only reply, 'When you are old, you will understand'."