The Archdiocese of Karachi is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical territory or

archdiocese 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 associated ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese of Bombay The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolitan see since i ...

History

The

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

were the first to start a mission in the village of Kolachi in the 17th century. They were followed by the

Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catho ...

who worked in the area until 1672. Around 1842–1843, the Carmelites once again attended to the spiritual needs of the British troops. The

Capuchin order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the o ...

served from 1852 and then the Jesuits from 1856 to 1934. On 1 June 1934, it was declared a Mission under the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. It was elevated as the Archdiocese of Karachi on 15 July 1950 when the priests of the Archdiocese took over the management from the Franciscans.

Development

The seat of the Archdiocese is St. Patrick's Cathedral. 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 ...

, the major

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the country is located in the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese has contributed to the welfare of the country through its

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

hospitals A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

, orphanages and other institutions. In 1998, the Archdiocese of Karachi owned 17 English- and 46 Urdu-medium schools for some 40,000 students with about 1,700 teachers. The Archdiocese has also produced a religious order for women known as the

Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King The Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King (F.M.C.K.) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women that originated in what is now Pakistan and founded schools, orphanages, homes for the aged and disabled and hospitals throughout the coun ...

(FMCK) that founded schools, orphanages, homes for the aged and disabled and hospitals throughout the country and in India and Sri Lanka. The Archdiocese publishes an Urdu-language weekly newspaper Agahi (knowledge) and an English-language weekly newspaper The

Christian Voice, Karachi ''The Christian Voice, Karachi'' is an English-language weekly newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, Pakistan. History It was founded in 1950 by Fr. D'Arcy D'Souza. This is the second oldest Catholic publication in Pakistan af ...

. The Archdiocese celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 20 May 1998. In 2000, the archdiocese had 18 parishes, 15 in the city of Karachi and one each in mission stations at Kotri, Khuzdar and Larkana. In 2009, the Archdiocese had 145 thousand faithful in a population of 15 million people. Encouraged by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

's message for the World Day of Social Communications, wherein he affirms that "digital technologies are a gift for humanity that can be useful for spreading solidarity and understanding among people and populations", the Archdiocese launched a web-based television network Good News TV in February 2009. Father Arthur Charles, the Vicar General, is the CEO of Good News TV. On 11 December 2009 the Archdiocese lost its longest serving priest when Father D'Arcy D'Souza, 97, died in Holy Family Hospital. Fr. D'Arcy gave sixty six years of his life in the service of the Church. In June 2018

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

made Archbishop Coutts a

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

, assigning him the titular church of San Bonaventura da Bagnoregio. On 28 May 2023, the Archdiocese of Karachi celebrated the 75th anniversary of its establishment. More than eight thousand people attended the Mass concelebrated by Archbishop Benny Travas of Karachi, Archbishop

Joseph Arshad Joseph Arshad (born August 25, 1964) is the Catholic Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Biography Arshad was born on August 25, 1964, in Lahore. After completing school, he began his priestly education at St. Mary's Minor Seminary, ...

of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad and Bishop

Yousaf Sohan Yousaf is an alternative name of Joseph in Islam. Yousaf is also a given name and surname and an alternative of Joseph, Yousef, Yusuf, Yousuf and variants. People with the name include: Given name *Yousaf Ali Khan, British film director *Yousaf ...

of Multan and many priests.

Archbishops of Karachi

* James Cornelius van Miltenburg, O.F.M. (1948–1958) * Cardinal Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro (1958–1994) *

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 Semi ...

(1994–2002) *

Evarist Pinto Evarist Pinto (born 31 December 1933 in Goa, Portuguese India) is the former archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. Education He was educated at St. Thomas High School, Goa, India. In 1960 he started studying for priesthood at the St. Pius X Minor ...

(2004–2012) * Cardinal

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 made Coutts a cardinal on 28 June 20 ...

(2012–2021) *

Benny Mario Travas Benny Mario Travas (born 21 November 1966) is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. He served as Bishop of Multan from 2015 to 2021. Biography Travas was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on 21 November 1966. ...

(2021–present)

Churches in the diocese

* Saint Patrick's Cathedral *Saint Michael's Church, Manzoor Colony * Our Lady of Fatima Church * St. Jude's Church * St Paul’s Church, Azam Basti - St Paul's Parish * St. Lawrence’s Church * Sacred Heart Church, Keamari * St. Anthony’s Church *St. Francis’ Church *St. John’s Church, Drigh Road *St. Luke’s Church, Baldia *Christ the King Church * St. Peter’s Church, Akhter Colony * Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Old Haji Camp *St John Marie Vianney Church, Mehmoodabad

Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Karachi

The Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, located on Siddiq Wahab Road in the Old Haji Camp area, is a part of the Archdiocese. The first parish priest, from July 1941 – 1944, was Fr.

Liberius Pieterse Liberius Pieterse (12 February 1905 – 24 September 1973) was a Franciscan priest working initially in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi in colonial India and Pakistan, respectively. Early life P ...

. He later became known for his translation of the Bible into

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. For nearly 80 years, parish nuns have maintained a medical clinic and school for poor Pakistanis. During the mid-1950s Fr.

was appointed Parish Priest of the parish. Fr. Simeon went on to become the Archbishop of Karachi The parish also has a school attached to it. St. Francis was the first parish to cater to the many people migrating from Punjab province to the city. The Jesuits and the

nuns started the migrant mission which still continues as Catholics pour in from the provinces.

Attack

On 12 October 2012, the parish was attacked by a mob of 600 Islamic radicals that destroyed property in the yard, but failed to break down the front door. Saleem Khurshid Khokhar, a member of the

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Provincial Assembly, visited shortly after the attack and condemned violence against religious minorities.Muslim mob vandalize St. Francis Church Karachi
Pakistan Christian Post

In the media

The Archdiocese promotes the message of the Gospel through the following media: * The Christian Voice, an English weekly * Agahi, an

news weekly * Good News TV, the Archdiocese satellite television network
Catholics in Pakistan
the official website of Catholics in Pakistan

References

External links

* {{authority control

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

1948 establishments in Pakistan Religion in Karachi A