John Baptist Todd, O.F.M. (30 November 1921 – 4 December 2017) was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

priest working in 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 Archdioces ...

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 and the University of Bombay. He received his religious training under the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...

and was ordained a priest in 1948.UCANews December 8, 2017
/ref> One of his first assignments was as Prefect of Discipline 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 ...

in the 1950s. Former President

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

attended St. Patrick's School in 1958–59. When he visited the school after becoming president, he recalled Todd giving him a sound caning for misbehaving. Musharraf subsequently presented a cane to Todd on the visit. He was first vice principal and later principal of

St Bonaventure's High School St Bonaventure's High School (formerly St Bonaventure's Boys' High School) is a private Catholic primary and secondary school, located on Foujdari Road in Saddar, Hyderabad in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The school has another branch in the ...

, Hyderabad from 1958–77. He was also instrumental in starting the school band in 1958. In the early 1960s Todd took a break from St. Bonaventure's to act as the principal of St. Mary’s High School, Sukkur and also served as principal of

St Francis Grammar School ''For the school of the same name in Hartlepool, England, see St Francis RC Grammar School.'' St. Francis' Grammar School is a private Catholic secondary school located in Baluchistan, Pakistan. The school is situated on the Zarghoon Road (formerl ...

, Quetta. From 2000-06 he was vice principal of St. Patrick's School. On 6 May 2011, The Old Patricians (former students of the school) presented the Father J. B. Todd OFM Gold Medal to the top student from the eighth grade at the closing ceremony of the 150th anniversary of the school. On 18 March 2012, at the age of 91, he attended the Old Patricians' St Patrick's Day Reunion dinner. Among his former students is Bishop

Samson Shukardin Samson Shukardin is the bishop of the Diocese of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Early life and education Shukardin was born on 29 January 1961, in Hyderabad. After schooling at St Bonaventure's High School in Hyderabad and at Government Boys College, he ...

of Hyderabad. Along with many other former students they gathered at the

Karachi Gymkhana The Karachi Gymkhana (KG) ( sd, ڪراچي جمخانه, Urdu: کراچی جِمخانہ) is a premier gymkhana (sports club) in the city of Karachi. It is located on Club Road in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Formerly, it was a first class cricket ...

to celebrate Todd’s 94th birthday.

Death

Todd died in Karachi on 4 December 2017 at the age of 96, 5 days after his 96th birthday.Geo TV 4 December 2017
/ref> His funeral was held on December 6, 2017 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi. It was celebrated by Archbishop

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 June ...

of Karachi and Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad.

References

1921 births 2017 deaths Heads of schools in Pakistan Pakistani Friars Minor 20th-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests {{RC-clergy-stub

Death

See also

References