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 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 ...

. The church was completed in 1881, and can accommodate 1,500 worshipers. At the front of the cathedral, there is the Monument to Christ the King, built between 1926 and 1931 to commemorate the Jesuit mission in Sindh.

History

The first church in

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 ...

, called St. Patrick’s Church, was built on the grounds of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in 1845 as a Carmelite mission at a cost of 6,000 rupees under the leadership of Karachi's first Carmelite priest, Father Casaboch. As the Catholic population of the city grew, the city's Catholics raised money for construction of a new church. Groundbreaking was done in 1878, and the church was consecrated on 24 April 1881. Despite the construction of the new building, the little church continued to function until it was destroyed by a storm in 1885.

Design

The present-day cathedral is built in

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

; it measures 52 metres by 22 metres, and has the capacity to accommodate at least 1,500 worshippers at the same time. It was designed and realized by three members of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

: The design of the cathedral was conceived by the architect Father Karl Wagner, SJ and the construction was supervised by the lay Brothers George Kluver, SJ and Herman Lau, SJ. The Gazetteer of the Province of Sindh provides a description of the cathedral:

"Its exterior is not ornamental, though striking from a distance, but money and art have been lavished on the interior. The
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
, itself spacious, acquires a special impressiveness but its additional height, while the noble contours of the aspiring
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
are seen to the best advantage. The whole interior is painted in oil and the windows are all of
stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
, donated by the members of the congregation."

Stained-glass windows

The cathedral's stained-glass windows were produced by Franz Mayer of Munich, Germany. They depict the following scenes:Ali, G. and Ali, M. St. Patrick’s: A journey of 175 years. Archdiocese of Karachi, 2018. *1.

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

*2. The sacrifice of Melchisedek *3. The sacrifice of

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

*4. The Paschal lamb *5. The miraculous Manna *6. The

annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

*7. The visitation *8. The

Nativity of Jesus The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew and Gospel of Luke, Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in Herodian kingdom, Roman-controlled Judea, th ...

*9. The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple *10. The flight into Egypt *11. The boy Jesus in the temple *12. The death of Joseph *13. The baptism of Jesus *14. The wedding at Cana *15. St. Peter receives the keys *16. Jesus raises Lazarus to life *17. The institution of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

*18. Agony of Jesus *19. Jesus carries his cross *20. The Crucifixion *21. The resurrection of Christ *22. The Ascension of Jesus *23. The crowning of Our Lady *24. The first Jesuits

Recent times

In 1978 the cathedral celebrated its centenary. The Pakistan

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

issued special commemorative stamps on the occasion. Pope John Paul I sent special greetings and blessings on the occasion. In November 1991 the cathedral was visited by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro of Karachi also spoke on the occasion. A bomb exploded inside the Cathedral causing an injury and destruction. The explosion on 22 December 1998, occurred minutes after the congregation celebrated Mass. Most people had departed when the bomb went off. One woman was wounded and there was partial damage to the interior of the 120-year-old Cathedral. The cathedral's grounds are adorned with a marble Monument to Christ the King, which was constructed in 1931 to commemorate the memory of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Mission in Sindh. In 2003, the cathedral was declared as a protected monument because of its outstanding architectural beauty under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act. The Cathedral, with a seating capacity of 2,000, used to be the biggest Catholic church in the country. On 9 November 2011 the apostolic nuncio to Pakistan Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra blessed St. Peter’s Church, Karachi, now the largest Catholic church in Pakistan. It can seat 5,000 people. In December 2018, the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the cathedral was led by the Archbishop of Karachi Joseph Cardinal Coutts. He also launched the book ''St Patrick’s: A Journey of 175 Years'' by Goretti and Michael Ali, written specially for the occasion. On 5 October 2019 the Archbishop announced that Fr. Saleh Diego would be the new parish priest of St. Patricks Parish. On 11 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Benny Travas of Multan to succeed Cardinal Joseph Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi. Travas was installed as Archbishop of Karachi at this Cathedral on 11 April 2021.

Choir

The first music mistress was Sr. Fredericka FC who served from 1878 to 1902. From the 1920s to the 70s, the Cathedral had a polyphonic choir of about thirty members; The members were: Sopranos: Jessie Fernandez, Olive D'Costa, Mary D'Silva, Hilda Freitas, Winnie Lobo, Carol Lobo Altos: Essie Menezes, Emma Correa, Nita Dias, Maureen Rodrigues, Ioline Fitchew, Ann Fitchew Armstrong Bases: Eustach Caldera, Sonoo D'Abreo, Austen Frietas, Isaac Noronha, R.C Fernandes Tenors: Vincent D'Abreo, Vincent Lobo, Glenn D'Abreo, Hector Lewis, Joseph Moniz, Derek Domingo The choir was conducted at first in the 20s and 30s by Carlos Fernandes, who was replaced by C.M. Lobo until the early 70s when he was replaced by his nephew Vincent Lobo. The organists for the choir had been C.M. Lobo before he took over the position of director and then Leo DeSousa who was followed by Fr. Ronnie Colaco until the choir folded in May 1974. It was never replaced by a polyphonic choral group of its previous capability. In 2018 the parish has five choirs: the Seniors, Shamrock, Praise in Harmony, Cathedral choir and Urdu choir.

Gallery

PK Karachi asv2020-02 img40 StPatrick Cathedral.jpg, Monument to Christ the King with Saint Patrick's Cathedral PK Karachi asv2020-02 img43 StPatrick Cathedral.jpg, Interior of the cathedral PK Karachi asv2020-02 img42 StPatrick Cathedral.jpg, The altar

Parish Priests

*Fr. Francis Casabosch OCD 1844-47 *Fr. J. Lopez 1847-50 *Fr. G. D'Silva 1850 *Fr. P. Ireneus OCD 1850-51 *Fr. Joh Chrysostomus OCD 1852-52 *Fr. Andres Jesu Mariae OCD 1853-53 *Fr. R. J. Periston1854-55 *Fr. P. Felix O. Cap. 1855-58 *Fr. P. Raphael O. Cap. 1858-59 *Fr. George Bridges SJ 1859 *Fr. G. Strickland SJ 1859 *Fr. Joseph Willy SJ 1859-65 *Fr. Basilius Haefly SJ 1865-1867 *Fr. Anselm Leiter SJ 1867-68 *Fr. Nicolas Pagani SJ 1868-72 *Fr. George Bridges SJ 1872-74 *Fr. Joseph Nueckel SJ 1874-76 *Fr. Francis Belz SJ 1876-87 *Fr. A. Bruder SJ 1887-94 *Fr. H. Jurgens SJ 1894-97 *Fr. T. Peters SJ 1897-1900 *Fr. J. B. Schroeter SJ 1900-10 *Fr. C. Gertler SJ 1910 *Fr. A. Gyr SJ 1910-16 *Fr. D. Lynch SJ 1916-18 *Fr. E. Farrell SJ 1918-20 *Fr. S. Boswin SJ 1920-22 *Fr. J. Meyer SJ 1922-23 *Fr. Vincent Gimenez SJ 1922-35 *Fr. Valens Wienk OFM 1935-36 *Fr. Salesius Lemmens OFM 1936-38 *Fr. Alcuinus van Miltenburg OFM 1938-40 *Fr. Achilles Meersman OFM 1940-41 *Fr. Alcuinus van Miltenburg OFM 1941-43 *Fr. Floregius Rypma OFM 1943-55 *Fr. Modestine Pöttgens OFM 1955-1966 *Fr. Francis de Souza 1966-1975 *Fr. Robert D'Silva 1975-1983 *Fr. Anthony Martis 1983-1992 *Fr. James DeSouza 1992-2000 *Fr. Achilles DeSouza 2000-2001 *Fr. Joseph D'Mello 2001-2007 *Fr. Edward Joseph 2007-2014 *Fr. Mario A. Rodrigues 2014-2019 UCANews 15 March 2016
/ref> *Fr. Saleh Diego 2019-2021 *Fr. Ryan Joseph 2021-2023 *Fr. Benjamin Shahzad 2023 -

References

{{Coord, 24, 51.712, N, 67, 02.103, E, display=title, region:PK_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki 1881 establishments in the British Empire

Roman Catholic churches in Karachi Gothic Revival church buildings in Pakistan British colonial architecture in Pakistan