Benny Mario Travas is a Pakistani prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Archbishop of Karachi,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. He served as Bishop of

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

from 2015-2021.

Biography

Travas was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on 21 November 1966. He received his early education from

St. Patrick's High School, Karachi , motto_translation = Through hardships to the stars , location = Saddar Town, Sindh , city = Karachi , province = , country = Pakistan , coordinates = , established = , foun ...

from where he graduated in 1983. He graduated from the

Christ the King seminary The Christ the King Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi, Pakistan; located in adjacent to the Portiuncula Friary. In its early years most of the faculty were provided by the Franciscans. It has been described ...

and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Karachi on 7 December 1990 and then spent seven years in pastoral work. In 1997, he received a licentiate in canon law from the

Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

in Rome. On his return to Pakistan he was professor of canon law at the

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 ...

, rector of St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Karachi, and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Karachi. He was also a judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Karachi and a member of the College of Consultors and of the Priests' Council. He was Vice President of the

Catholic Board of Education The Catholic Board of Education is the arm of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan responsible for education. Each diocese has its own board. Collectively the Catholic Church runs 534 schools, 8 colleges, and 7 technical institutes in its 2 archdio ...

. On 13 June 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted the resignation of Bishop

Andrew Francis Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Hero 108'' as Lin Chung, '' L ...

of Multan and appointed Travas as

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

. On 29 May 2015, Pope Francis appointed Travas Bishop of Multan. He received his episcopal consecration on 15 August 2015 from Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader, Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan. In 2016 he was appointed Chair of

Caritas Pakistan Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in Pakistan. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing pove ...

. In December 2016, at a meeting of Asian bishops, he described the principal challenges facing the Catholic Church in Pakistan as charges brought under the blasphemy laws and mob violence, as well as poverty, drug addiction, and the shortage of priests. In October 2016 he was appointed a member of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

. In February 2019, he was elected secretary of the

International Commission on English in the Liturgy The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is a commission set up by a number of episcopal conferences of English-speaking countries for the purpose of providing English translations of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, th ...

. On 13 June 2020, he inaugurated St. Peter’s CSS Academy in Multan. The Academy encourages and facilitates Catholics to appear for the

Central Superior Services The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

(CSS) exams that lead to federal public service jobs. This is the first time a concerted effort has been made to promote Catholics into the public service. In 2020 Travas went into isolation after he tested positive for Covid-19. On 11 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Travas to succeed

Joseph Coutts Joseph Coutts (born 21 July 1945) is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Karachi from 2012 to 2021. He served as Bishop of Faisalabad from 1998 to 2012. Pope Francis created Coutts a cardinal on 28 Jun ...

as Archbishop of Karachi. Travas was installed as Archbishop of Karachi at the St Patrick’s Cathedral on 11 April 2021.Dawn April 12, 2021
/ref>

References

External links

* --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Travas, Benny Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Pakistan 1966 births Pakistani people of Goan descent Pontifical Urban University alumni St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of Karachi Roman Catholic bishops of Multan