Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi

Archdiocese of Karachi Archidioecesis Karachiensis کراچی کے میٹروپولیٹن
St. Patricks Cathedral
Location
Country	Pakistan
Territory	The city of Karachi with its five districts: Karachi Central, South, West, East and Malir.
Ecclesiastical province	Karachi
Statistics
Area	180,000 km2 (69,000 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2011) 15,802,000 166,000 (1.1%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	1948
Cathedral	St. Patrick's Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Joseph Coutts
Suffragans	Diocese of Hyderabad
Emeritus Bishops	Evarist Pinto Archbishop Emeritus (2004-2012)
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Karachi, originally known as the Diocese of Karachi, was erected on 20 May 1948 under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay, India. It was elevated as the Archdiocese of Karachi on 15 July 1950. The seat of the Archdiocese is St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Christ the King Seminary, the major seminary of the country, is located in the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese has contributed to the welfare of the country through its schools, hospitals, orphanages and other institutions. In 1998, the Archdiocese of Karachi owned 17 English- and 46 Urdu-medium schools for some 40,000 students with about 1,700 teachers.^[1]

The Archdiocese has also produced a religious order for women known as the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King (FMCK) that founded schools, orphanages, homes for the aged and disabled and hospitals throughout the country and in India and Sri Lanka.

The Archdiocese publishes an Urdu-language weekly newspaper Agahi (knowledge) and an English-language weekly newspaper The Christian Voice, Karachi.^[2]

The Archdiocese celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 20 May 1998.^[3]

In 2000, the archdiocese had 18 parishes, 15 in the city of Karachi and one each in mission stations at Kotri, Khuzdar and Larkana.^[4] In 2009, the Archdiocese had 145 thousand faithful in a population of 15 million people.^[5]

Encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI's message for the World Day of Social Communications, wherein he affirms that “digital technologies are a gift for humanity that can be useful for spreading solidarity and understanding among people and populations",^[6] the Archdiocese launched a web-based television network Good News TV in February 2009. Father Arthur Charles, the Vicar General, is the CEO of Good News TV.^[7]

On December 11, 2009 the Archdiocese lost its longest serving priest when Father D'Arcy D'Souza, 97, died in Holy Family Hospital. Fr. D'Arcy gave sixty six years of his life in the service of the Church.^[8]

Ordinaries

• James Cornelius van Miltenburg, O.F.M. † (20 May 1948 to 28 Apr 1958)

• Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro † (7 May 1958 to 11 Feb 1994)

• Simeon Anthony Pereira † (11 Feb 1994 to 20 Nov 2002)

• Evarist Pinto (5 Jan 2004 to 25 Jan 2012)

• Joseph Coutts (since 25 Jan 2012)

Affiliated bishops

• Anthony Theodore Lobo (Auxiliary Bishop: 8 Jun 1982 to 28 May 1993)

Churches in the diocese

• Saint Patrick's Cathedral
• Saint Michael's Church, Manzoor Colony
• Our Lady of Fatima Church
• St. Jude's Church
• St Paul’s Church, Azam Basti - St Paul's Parish
• St. Lawrence’s Church
• Sacred Heart Church, Keamari
• St. Anthony’s Church
• St. Francis’ Church
• St. John’s Church, Drigh Road
• St. Luke’s Church, Baldia
• Christ the King Church
• St. Peter’s Church, Akhter Colony^[9]
• Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Old Haji Camp
• St John Marie Vianney Church, Mehmoodabad

In the media

The Archdiocese promotes the message of the Gospel through the following media:

• The Christian Voice, an English weekly
• Agahi, an Urdu news weekly
• FM 777, the first Catholic Internet radio station in Pakistan,
• Good News TV, the Archdiocese satellite television network

See also

List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Pakistan

References

External links

• "Karachi Archdiocese". 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-29. 

• "Archdiocese of Karachi". Catholic Hierarchy. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-21. 

• "FM 777". 2015. 

Roman Catholicism in Pakistan Local Orders Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King Archdioceses Karachi Lahore Dioceses Faisalabad Hyderabad Islamabad-Rawalpindi Multan Apostolic vicariate Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta Cathedrals Cathedral of the Holy Redeemer Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Hyderabad St. Joseph's Cathedral, Rawalpindi Holy Rosary Church, Pro-Cathedral of Quetta Congregations Daughters of Saint Paul Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools Oblates of Mary Immaculate Daughters of the Cross Dominicans Franciscans Episcopal conference Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan Educational institutions see Category:Roman Catholic schools in Pakistan Notable Roman Catholics see Category:Pakistani Roman Catholics

Coordinates: 24°51′N 67°00′E / 24.850°N 67.000°E / 24.850; 67.000