Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro (19 January 1918 – 11 February 1994) was the first

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 ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Early life

Cordeiro was born to a

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...

family. 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 ...

, the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He received his religious training at the Papal Seminary in

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, and was ordained a priest 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 on 24 August 1946.Ali, G. and Ali, M. St. Patrick’s: A journey of 175 years. Archdiocese of Karachi, 2018.

Career

From 1946 to 1948, he did pastoral work in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and Karachi. He then attended Oxford University, where he earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. In 1950 he was appointed

Vice Principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making authorit ...

. From 1952 he 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 Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

and as rector of the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Quetta. On 7 May 1958, he was appointed Archbishop of Karachi, with his seat at

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi St. Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, and is located near the Empress Market in the Saddar locality in central Karachi. The church was completed in 1881, and can accommodate 1,500 worshipers. At th ...

. He attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

(1962–1965), the First Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City (1967), the First Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City (1969) and the Second Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Vatican City (1971). He was elected a member of the Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops (1971). He was the first Pakistani cardinal, a position elevated by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

(1973). He attended both

papal conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the Apostolic succession, apostolic successor of Saint ...

s in 1978, and was mentioned as

papabile ''Papabile'' (, also , ; ; or "able to be pope") is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man, in practice always a cardinal, who is thought a likely ...

by ''Time Magazine'' after

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...

's death. He wrote a series of articles for the

Archdiocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

weekly '' Christian Voice'' called "''Lessons of a Lifetime''", a reflection on his life experiences. From 1958 until his death, Cordeiro was president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan. He was also since 1972 the secretary of the

Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences The Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) is an association of episcopal conferences of Catholic Church in South, Southeast, East and Central Asia. The federation fosters solidarity and joint responsibility for the welfare of the Church a ...

Death

Cordeiro died on 11 February 1994 at Holy Family Hospital with complications due to cancer. Cordeiro was succeeded by Archbishop

Simeon Anthony Pereira Simeon Anthony Pereira (19 October 1927, Sukkur, British India - 22 August 2006, Karachi) was a former archbishop of Karachi. Life Pereira was educated at St Patrick's High School, Karachi. He received his religious training at the Papal Semin ...

Honors

Cordeiro was honoured by 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 ...

in Karachi that has hosted the Cardinal Cordeiro Cricket tournament to promote religious vocations since 2008. On 6 May 2011, The Old Patricians (former students of St Patrick's school) presented the Joseph Cardinal Cordeiro Gold Medal to the top student from the Cambridge A level section at the closing ceremony of the 150th anniversary of the school. In 2012, Cardinal Cordeiro High School was named in his honor. The school is located in the Good Shepherd Parish in

Korangi Town Korangi Town ( sd, ڪورنگي ur, ) lies in the eastern part of the city that was named after the locality of Korangi. Korangi Town was formed in 2001 as part of The Local Government Ordinance 2001, and was subdivided into 9 union councils. ...

, Karachi.UCANews 18 April 2012
His alma mater, St. Patrick's High School named the Cardinal Cordeiro Silver Jubilee Auditorium in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordeiro, Joseph 1918 births 1994 deaths Christian clergy from Mumbai People from Karachi St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Pakistan Pakistani people of Goan descent Pakistani cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Paul VI University of Mumbai alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Pakistani educators Roman Catholic archbishops of Karachi