Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
for awareness/knowledge) is a weekly published by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi
The Archdiocese of Karachi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in India. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese ...
. It is the first such paper to be published in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore publishes an Urdu-language newspaper called Catholic Naqib but this is a fortnightly publication.
The planned format is to have a minimum of eight pages plus two to four pages of announcements and advertisements.
''Agahis editor, Fr Arthur Charles, is convinced about the suitability of the title of the newspaper, which aims to impart "knowledge, information and insight". The newspaper features eight pages of editorial with another two to four for advertisement.
Archbishop
Evarist Pinto
Evarist Pinto (born 31 December 1933 in Goa, Portuguese India) is the former archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan.
Education
He was educated at St. Thomas High School, Goa, India. In 1960 he started studying for priesthood at the St. Pius X Minor ...
said: "In our age more than in any other, we can not neglect the influence of the media and mass communication and their potential for proclaiming the Word of God. I keep on stressing that we need to engage more actively in our Catholic media."
The Archdiocese already has an English weekly, '' The Christian Voice''. The Urdu weekly will be in the same style and format. The contents will comprise official news both from the Archdiocese and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
, news and views of interest from other dioceses, reports from around the world, features focusing on biblical, theological, liturgical, moral and social issues."
The first Urdu Catholic weekly in Pakistan, launched on November 26, 2006 in the Karachi Archdiocese, has launched an online edition in 2008.Agenzia Fides 14 December 2015 /ref>
About 15,000 Catholics including priests and nuns joined the launch of the ''Agahi'' website on March 20 after Holy Thursday Mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi.
Before the Archdiocese of Karachi launched ''Agahi'', they consulted respected Catholic journalist Robin Fernandez about the direction the weekly should take.
In 2008, Archbishop Evarist Pinto inaugurated and browsed the website (www.agahinews.com). The online edition offers the full contents of the tabloid-size archdiocesan weekly, to be posted on the Internet every Monday.
From 2009 to 2016 the newspaper has been giving awards to people for outstanding Christian journalism. In a ceremony held on November 24, 2016 the chief guest was Evarist Pinto, Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi. Distributing the prizes was Fr. Indrias Rehmat, Dean of
National Catholic Institute of Theology
The National Catholic Institute of Theology (NCIT) is a Catholic theological institute established in Karachi, Pakistan in September 1997. It offers academic courses leading to a diploma in theology, as well as programs for laypeople and religio ...
.
In December 2015, the circulation has grown to about 10,000 copies per week.
Editors
The Archbishop named Julius Nadeem Gill as the first editor. Gill has a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication, and has eight years of experience in the print and electronic media and other aspects of communication.
In 2011 Ayyaz Gulzar became editor of ''Agahi''. He is a reporter for UCA News and heads the Catholic Bible Commission in the Karachi archdiocese. In December 2011 Gulzar won an award for editing the diocesan weekly.
As of 2013, Iqbal Anjum was the Editor of ''Agahi'', after the resignation of Khurram Pervez.''Agahi'', 31 March 2013