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. 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.[1]
History
The first church in Sindh, called St. Patrick’s Church, was built on the grounds of the cathedral in 1845 as a Carmelite mission at a cost of 6,000 rupees under the leadership of Karachi's first Carmelite priest, Father Casaboch.[2] 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.[3] Despite the construction of the new building, the little church continued to function until it was destroyed by a storm in 1885.[citation needed]
Design
The present-day cathedral is built in Gothic Revival architecture; 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 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.[4][5][6]
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, itself spacious, acquires a special impressiveness but its additional height, while the noble contours of the aspiring altar are seen to the best advantage. The whole interior is painted in oil and the windows are all of stained glass, 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:[7]
In 1978 the cathedral celebrated its centenary. The Pakistan Post Office issued special commemorative stamps on the occasion.[7]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.[8]
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.[9]
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 Mission in Sindh.[3]
In 2003, the cathedral was declared as a protected monument because of its outstanding architectural beauty under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Protection Act.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12]
On 5 October 2019 the Archbishop announced that Fr. Saleh Diego would be the new parish priest of St. Patricks Parish.[13]
On 11 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Benny Travas of Multan to succeed Cardinal Joseph Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi.[14] Travas was installed as Archbishop of Karachi at this Cathedral on 11 April 2021.[15]
Choir
The first music mistress was Sr. Fredericka FC who served from 1878 to 1902.[7]
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
Tenors:
Vincent D'Abreo, Vincent Lobo, Glenn D'Abreo, Hector Lewis, Joseph Moniz, Derek Domingo
The choir[16] 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.[7]
Gallery
Monument to Christ the King with Saint Patrick's Cathedral
