Eastern Orthodoxy in Pakistan is a Christian denomination in the country of
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 ...
. In 2011, the number of
Eastern Orthodox Christians
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
in Pakistan was estimated at 500 people. The present population of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
in Pakistan is around 3,000. It represents approximately 0.0002% of the population.
Eastern Orthodox church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
es in the country are represented by the
Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
, the
Patriarchate of Moscow
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
Wazirabad
Wazirabad (Urdu/ pa, ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Wazirabad District.
Famous for its cutlery products, it is known as the city of cutlery and is also quite famous for its foods.
Wazirabad is situated on the banks of t ...
), Parish of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
(MP) (
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
) Community of the Russian Orthodox Church (MP) (
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
), Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) (
Sargodha
Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as t ...
) and Rahimyarkhan, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi Islamabad (Ghotki Sindh).
Organization
Patriarchate of Constantinople
In 2005, an Eastern Orthodox mission, headed by Pakistani priest John Tanveer, opened in Pakistan. In 1986 he began serving as a
Catholic priest
The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...
in Lahore. In 1990 he met with the Greek Orthodox general. Following the meeting, Tanveer visited Australia, where he became acquainted with
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
. In 1996, he resigned as Catholic priest in 1997, and married a graduate of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
. In 1998, Tanveer came in contact with the representatives of the Patriarchate of
and wrote a petition to adopt it in Eastern Orthodoxy. In 2001, his application was approved, and in 2003 he had his first meeting with the Eastern Orthodox bishop. In 2005, Tanveer and his family, as well as many other people, adopted Eastern Orthodoxy.
During his missionary activity Tanveer opened a churchand catechetical school in his home. He translated into
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...
. In October 2012, the foundation stone of the future church was laid in the territory of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Islamabad. Construction began in 2015 and finished in October 2016. In August 2017 a graduate of Tomsk Theological Seminary, Priest Paul Sushil (Anjum) started missionary work in Pakistan. Sushil was responsible for looking after the Orthodox communities in Lahore and Islamabad as the Representative of Russian Orthodox Church in Pakistan (Moscow Patriarchate).
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
ROCOR in Pakistan is headed by
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
Hilarion Kapral
Metropolitan Hilarion (born Igor Alexeyevich Kapral, russian: Игорь Алексеевич Капра́л; 6 January 1948 – 16 May 2022) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Metropolitan of Eastern America a ...
. Its Mission is St.Michael the Archangel Orthodox Mission of Pakistan. The priest is Father Joseph Farooq, the only canonical ROCOR priest in the country.
The Mission was started in 2008, canonically established in 2012 and registered in Pakistan in 2014. 780 believers make up the Russian Orthodox Family in Pakistan. The Church has spiritual and canonical union with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
St. Matrona of Moscow Adult Education Center and Sewing Center was founded in March 2016 as an outreach program of Mission to poor women. In April 2017 Father Farooq visited Russia to venerate the Holy Sites and Relics. Father Farooq wrote ''Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II’S Journey To Pakistan Notes of a Pakistani Orthodox Priest''.
ROCOR Believers live in
Sargodha
Sargodha (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Punjab province, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's 12th largest city by population and one of the fastest-growing cities of the country. Sargodha is also known as t ...
,
Ghotki
Ghotki ( ur, ; sd, گهوٽڪي) is a city in northern Sindh, Pakistan. It is the headquarter of Ghotki District. It is the 87th largest city of Pakistan by population. Ghotki is famous for Pera Sweet.
History
According to Mirza Kalich Be ...
Faisalabad
Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pakis ...
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...
under the pastoral care of Father Farooq.
Father Farooq translated books into Urdu for the benefit of Believers in Pakistan: ''Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom,'' ''Eastern Orthodox Prayer book,'' ''Catechism of Eastern Orthodox Church,'' often referred as a New Chrysostom ''Life of Saint Sergius of Radonezh'', ''Saint Seraphim of Sarov'', ''Righteous Father John of Kronstadt'', ''Blessed Mother Matrona of Moscow'' and ''Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia'' along with various Liturgical Texts,
Russian Orthodox Church Old Rite
The Russian Orthodox Church Old Rite in Pakistan was started in 2006, but canonically establish 2016 with the blessing of Eminence Metropolitan Korniliy and registered in 2017. Instrumental to the foundation of the Old-Rite church in Pakistan was Cyril Shahzad, a former Russian Orthodox priest who joined the Old-rite church after visiting Rogozhskoye. Russian Orthodox old believers live in Sargodha, Wazirabad, Islamabad, Bhalwal. They worship primarily in English and Urdu.