St. Anthony's Church, Lahore, located 270 kilometers southeast of
Islamabad
Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
is one of the oldest churches in the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lahore is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in Punjab province, Pakistan.
Its episcopal seat is the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore.
History
In 1594 the Mughal emperor Akbar invited some Catho ...
in
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# ...
.
History
The church was consecrated in 1899. It was formerly called the "Railway Church."
Father
Andrew Francis
Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Monster Rancher'' as Genki, '' ...
was the pastor of St. Anthony's Parish until becoming Bishop of Multan in 2000, followed by Father Emmanuel Asi, one of the country's leading
theologians
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
. Father George Daniel was parish priest from 2004 from 2012 when Father Emmanuel Yousaf Manni replaced him.
To improve relations between Christians and Muslims, the officials at St. Anthony's Church organized a Christian-Muslim meeting on November 19, 2005, and formed Christian-Muslim Rabita (cooperation) Society in Lahore.
The parish has other important ministries, including visiting and teaching prisoners. On May 29, 1990, the Inspector General of prisons in
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
granted permission to church organizations to hold
Bible studies with Christian prisoners. Statistics from 1990 indicate that the 28 jails hosted 35,000 inmates.
On June 12, 2007, more than one thousand Catholics attended the blessing of the expanded wing of St. Anthony's Church. Archbishop
Lawrence Saldanha
Lawrence John Saldanha (born 12 June 1936) is an Indian-born retired Pakistani archbishop. Born in Mangalore, India, he received his religious training at the Christ the King seminary in Karachi and was ordained a priest in Lahore, Pakistan ...
of Lahore conducted the blessing. The construction took two years and was made with contributions collected largely from locals, with additional help from a few foreign donors. The enlargement raised the church's capacity from 900 to 1,500.
On May 11, 2018, Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, national director of the Pakistani Catholic bishops'
National Commission for Justice and Peace
Catholic (National) Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) was formed in 1985 by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan. It provides services in the field of human rights advocacy.
Leadership Founding Chairperson
Bishop John Joseph (l ...
, distributed financial assistance to each of the relatives of the 39 Christians in prison, at St. Anthony's Church.
UCANews May 15, 2018
/ref>
References
Roman Catholic churches in Lahore
1899 establishments in British India
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1899
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