Church Roman Catholic Church Predecessor Max Rodrigues Name Samson Shukardin | In office 2014 – See Diocese of Hyderabad Ordination December 10, 1993 | |
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Bishop Samson Shukardin
Samson Shukardin is the new (2014) bishop of the Diocese of Hyderabad, Pakistan.
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Early life and education
Shukardin was born on January 29, 1961, in Hyderabad. After schooling at St Bonaventure's High School in Hyderabad and at Government Boys College he entered the Order of Friars Minor.
In 1992 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Sindh University, Jamshoro, and later earned a degree in Theology at the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi. In 1998 he completed a degree in Civil Law studies at the Sindh Muslim Law College.
Career
He was ordained a priest on 10 December 1993. Since then he has served from 1993-1996 as assistant priest in Gujrat, Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi; from 1996-2004 as Procurator of the Franciscan Province; from 2004-2008 as Guardian of the Franciscan Order and President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Pakistan; since 2008 as Pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Hyderabad, and Diocesan Director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace. Since 2010, he has been the Vicar General of the Diocese of Hyderabad.
Appointment
On 16 December 2014 Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Max John Rodrigues in accordance with canon 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. The Pope then appointed Fr. P. Samson Shukardin OFM as the new bishop of the Diocese.
He was consecrated bishop on 31 January 2015. The Principal Consecrator was Bishop Max John Rodrigues, Bishop Emeritus of Hyderabad, while the Principal Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi and Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore.
The Diocese of Hyderabad covers 137,000 square kilometers, with a population of 22,300,000 of which almost 50,000 are Catholic. It is served by 15 parishes, 30 priests, and 89 nuns.
Recent events
Speaking against discrimination against religious minorities, he told reporters on December 10, 2015 that Pakistan’s human rights record was so poor that it was voted off the U.N. Human Rights Council.
On December 1, 2015, along with many other former students, the Bishop gathered at the Karachi Gymkhana to celebrate the 94th birthday of his former school teacher Father John Baptist Todd.