Ecclesiastical province Karachi Rite Latin Rite Area 180,000 km² Metropolitan archbishop Joseph Coutts | Denomination Roman Catholic Established 1948 Country Pakistan | |
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Territory The city of Karachi with its five districts: Karachi Central, South, West, East and Malir. Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2011)
15,802,000
166,000 (1.1%) Cathedral Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi | ||
The Archdiocese of Karachi, originally known as the Diocese of Karachi, was erected on 20 May 1948 under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay, India. It was elevated as the Archdiocese of Karachi on 15 July 1950. The seat of the Archdiocese is St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Christ the King Seminary, the major seminary of the country, is located in the Archdiocese.
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The Archdiocese has contributed to the welfare of the country through its schools, hospitals, 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 (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 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'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 December 11, 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.
Ordinaries
• James Cornelius van Miltenburg, O.F.M. † (20 May 1948 to 28 Apr 1958)
• Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro † (7 May 1958 to 11 Feb 1994)
• Simeon Anthony Pereira † (11 Feb 1994 to 20 Nov 2002)
• Evarist Pinto (5 Jan 2004 to 25 Jan 2012)
• Joseph Coutts (since 25 Jan 2012)
Affiliated bishops
Churches in the diocese
In the media
The Archdiocese promotes the message of the Gospel through the following media: