James "Jimmy" deSouza (11 December 1925 – 28 January 2016) was a Catholic priest, teacher, school principal and humanitarian.

Biography

DeSouza was born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He was educated at

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

. He received his religious training at the Papal Seminary,

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, which he entered in 1944 and was ordained a priest of 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 ...

on 24 August 1951. DeSouza taught at

St Paul's English High School , motto_translation = With zeal and perseverance I strive towards the goal , established = , closed = , type = Private primary and secondary school , religion = Catholicism , president = , principal = Leonard Dias , oversight = Catholic ...

and then at St. Anthony's School. He was then appointed Principal of St. John Vianney’s School, a post he held for several years. In 1963, along with Fr. Dalmatius Geurts, deSouza made an analysis of the situation and a feasibility study and came to the conclusion that there was a big demand for skilled craftsmen in Pakistan. The final plan was to build a school for Metal Work, Auto Mechanics, Electro-Technology, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, and Carpentry. The St. Patrick's Technical School was set up in 1965 by Brother Norman Wray. In 2006 it became the St. Patrick's Institute of Science & Technology. From 1963–73, deSouza was the pastor of a small

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

-speaking community in Karachi, where he was involved with their repatriation to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

in 1973, working with the

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signator ...

and

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

. He also taught at St Patrick's High School, where he recruited students to read to the blind at the Ida Rieu School. In 1974, he was appointed Rector of the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Karachi. From 1995-2000, deSouza served as St. Patrick’s Cathedral's 40th parish priest.The Christian Voice, Karachi, 11 April 1999 One of his major achievements was in renovating the cathedral building during 1998-1999 with funds from parishioners, former parishioners and well-wishers in Karachi and abroad. The Cathedral was damaged when a bomb set off by suspected fanatics went off three days before Christmas in 1998. DeSouza celebrated the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

of his priesthood in 2001. He was parish priest of

St. Lawrence's Church, Karachi St. Lawrence's Church, Karachi is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. It became a parish in 1912.The Christian Voice, Karachi, August 09, 2009 History It was the architects of Cincinnatus Town that first “gave priority to the bui ...

in 2006-2007. DeSouza died in the early hours of 28 January 2016.Goan Voice
Accessed 17 March 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desouza, James 1925 births 2016 deaths Pakistani people of Goan descent 20th-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni 21st-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests