Benny Mario Travas

Last updated

His Grace

Benny Mario Travas
Archbishop of Karachi
Church Roman Catholic
See Karachi
Installed11 April 2021
PredecessorJoseph Coutts
Orders
Ordination21 November 1990
Consecration15 August 2015
by  Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader
Personal details
Born (1966-11-21) 21 November 1966 (age 57)
Previous post(s)Bishop of Multan

Benny Mario Travas is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. He served as Bishop of Multan from 2015 to 2021.

Contents

Biography

Travas was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on 21 November 1966. He received his early education from St. Patrick's High School, Karachi from where he graduated in 1983. [1] He graduated from the Christ the King seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Karachi on 7 December 1990 and then spent seven years in pastoral work. [2]

In 1997, he received a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. [3] On his return to Pakistan he was professor of canon law at the National Catholic Institute of Theology, rector of St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Karachi, and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Karachi. He was also a judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Karachi and a member of the College of Consultors and of the Priests' Council. [2] He was Vice President of the Catholic Board of Education. [4]

On 13 June 2014, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan and appointed Travas as Apostolic Administrator. [5] On 29 May 2015, Pope Francis appointed Travas Bishop of Multan. [2] He received his episcopal consecration on 15 August 2015 from Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader, Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan. [6]

In 2016 he was appointed Chair of Caritas Pakistan. [7] In December 2016, at a meeting of Asian bishops, he described the principal challenges facing the Catholic Church in Pakistan as charges brought under the blasphemy laws and mob violence, as well as poverty, drug addiction, and the shortage of priests. [8]

In October 2016 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. [9] In February 2019, he was elected secretary of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. [10]

On 13 June 2020, he inaugurated St. Peter's CSS Academy in Multan. The Academy encourages and facilitates Catholics to appear for the Central Superior Services (CSS) exams that lead to federal public service jobs. This is the first time a concerted effort has been made to promote Catholics into the public service. [11]

In 2020 Travas went into isolation after he tested positive for Covid-19. [12]

On 11 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Travas to succeed Joseph Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi. [13] Travas was installed as Archbishop of Karachi at the St Patrick's Cathedral on 11 April 2021. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi</span> Cathedral

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Pakistan</span>

The Catholic Church in Pakistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Cordeiro</span>

Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro was a Catholic prelate who in 1973 became the first Pakistani cardinal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Pakistan

The Archdiocese of Karachi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Pakistan. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay.

Evarist Pinto is the former archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan.

The Christ the King Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi, Pakistan; located in adjacent to the Portiuncula Friary. In its early years most of the faculty were provided by the Franciscans. It has been described as "the pioneering theological institution for the Catholic Church in Pakistan."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Coutts</span> Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church

Joseph Coutts is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Karachi from 2012 to 2021. He served as Bishop of Faisalabad from 1998 to 2012.

Andrew Francis was the Pakistani Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Multan from 2000 to 2014.

Father Victor Gnanapragasam O.M.I. was the first prefect of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Multan is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastian Francis Shaw</span> Pakistani Roman Catholic archbishop (born 1957)

Sebastian Francis Shaw is a Pakistani Roman Catholic archbishop. He was born in Padri Jo Goth, Sindh, Pakistan on 14 November 1957. He received his early education at Fatima High School and attended the Government Degree College. He received his religious training under the Order of Friars Minor and at the Christ the King seminary in Karachi and was ordained a priest in Lahore, Pakistan on 6 December 1991. Before joining the Franciscans he was a teacher.

Patras Yusaf was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Multan from 1984 until his death in 1998.

Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in Pakistan. It is affiliated with Caritas Internationalis, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Minor Seminary, Lahore</span>

St. Mary's Minor Seminary, Lahore, is the preparatory seminary in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore. It is the first minor seminary in the country, started by Belgian Capuchin Bishop Marcel Roger Buyse of Lahore in 1951. St. Mary's is now serving Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi dioceses, as well as the Capuchins and Franciscans.

Rufin Anthony was a Pakistani Roman Catholic bishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Commission for Justice and Peace</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolfo Tito Yllana</span>

Adolfo Tito Camacho Yllana is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has been an archbishop and apostolic nuncio since 2001, the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel as well as Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine since June 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Aurelio Poli</span> Catholic Cardinal from Argentine.

Mario Aurelio Poli is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 2013 to 2023. He was the Bishop of Santa Rosa from 2008 to 2013 and before that an auxiliary bishop in Buenos Aires from 2002 to 2008. Pope Francis, his predecessor in Buenos Aires, made him a cardinal in 2014.

Lawrence Subrata Howlader, C.S.C. is a Bangladeshi prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the bishop of the Barisal, Bangladesh, since 2016. From 2009 to 2016 he was auxiliary bishop of Chittagong, officially known as Chattogram since 2018, where he was appointed archbishop in February 2021.

References

  1. Dawn February 12, 2021
  2. 1 2 3 "Rinunce e nomine, 29.05.2015" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  3. "Grandson of Goa is new Multan bishop". Times of India. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  4. "Pope Francis Names 54-Year-Old Successor to Cardinal Coutts in Karachi". National Catholic Register. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. "Rinunce e nomine, 13.06.2014" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  6. "Bishops". Catholics in Pakistan. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. Chaudhry, Kamran (5 January 2017). "What will 2017 hold for Pakistani Catholics?". UCANews. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  8. "Pakistan Church wrestles with persecution, discrimination". The Herald Malaysia. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. Lamb, Christopher (28 October 2016). "Pope overhauls Cardinal Sarah's department". The Tablet. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. "Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli Completes Term as ICEL Chairman" (PDF). USCCB Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  11. Chaudhry, Kamran (17 June 2020). "Pakistan Catholics join race for top government positions". La Croix International. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  12. UCANews January 4, 2021
  13. "Resignations and Appointments, 11.02.2021" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  14. Dawn April 12, 2021

-->

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Multan
May 2015 – 2021
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by Archbishop of Karachi
Archbishop-elect
Succeeded by
-