| Type | Seminary |
|---|---|
| Established | 1956 |
Religious affiliation | Catholicism |
Academic affiliation | University of Melbourne |
| Rector | Fr. Kamran Taj |
| Students | 72 (2019) |
| Address | Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town , , , Pakistan 24°54′33″N67°4′6″E / 24.90917°N 67.06833°E Coordinates: 24°54′33″N67°4′6″E / 24.90917°N 67.06833°E |
| Language | English and Urdu |
| Sister institution | National Catholic Institute of Theology |
| Students from: | Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Italy, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. |
| Sports | Cricket, soccer, basketball |
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." [1]
The high-water mark of the seminary's 50-year existence was the recruitment of 98 seminarians for the class that entered in 1990.
On 5 April 1957 Pope Pius XII issued a decree through the Congregation of the Faith to build a regional seminary in Karachi. [2]
When the seminary started in 1956 it had only four students. Among them was Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, who later went on to become its Rector. Other alumni include the Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi Evarist Pinto, [3] the late Bishop Anthony Theodore Lobo of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Joseph Cardinal Coutts, the late Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, and the late Bishop John Joseph of Faisalabad and the late Bishop Patras Yusaf of Multan.
Fifty years on, the seminary has graduated 780 students from Pakistan and abroad, some coming from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Italy, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. It also expanded over the decades, adding a grassy field for soccer and cricket, a basketball court, a pavilion, a retreat center and a Marian grotto with a fountain.
The National Catholic Institute of Theology (NCIT) was established at the seminary in September 1997, offering academic courses leading to a diploma in theology, as well as programs for laypeople and Religious involved in Church ministries. At the Institute students can now obtain a Bachelor of Theology degree from the University of Melbourne due to the efforts of Yarra Theological Union and the Melbourne College of Divinity. [4]
In 1994 the philosophy studies program for seminarians was separated from the theology program and moved to the St. Francis Xavier Seminary in the Lahore archdiocese.
In addition to dwindling vocations, the seminary has had to deal with a shortage of drinking water over the last 10 years, exacerbated by local authorities appropriation, without compensation, of its old well in November 2005 for the Lyari Expressway project.
The expressway project is part of Karachi's "Cleaning the City" drive, which the Asian Human Rights Commission says has rendered thousands homeless. It adds that 11,000 houses and 3,100 commercial buildings outside the path of the expressway have been evacuated and demolished.
Since 2008 the seminary has been hosting the Cardinal Cordeiro Cricket tournament to promote religious vocations and remember Pakistan’s first cardinal. In 2010 there are 43 students from all six dioceses and the Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta. [5]
In 2010, a grant from Aid to the Church in Need was made to the Seminary where it will be used for library books and new air conditioning units. [6]
In 2011 there were 24 seminarians in the institution. [7] By 2014 this had risen to 40. [8]
On 4 May 2012 Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, appointed Fr. Benjamin Shahzad as Rector of the Seminary. [9]
In June 2019 the number of seminarians had risen to 72. [10]
The following individuals have served as rectors of the seminary:
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rev. Innocent Laurensse, OFM | 1956 | 1971 | 14–15 years | [11] |
| 2 | Rev. Anslem Moons, OFM | 1971 | 1974 | 2–3 years | |
| 3 | Rev. Lawrence Saldanha | 1974 | 1979 | 4–5 years | [12] |
| 4 | Rev. Emmanuel Asi | 1979 | 1988 | 8–9 years | [13] |
| 5 | Rev. Arnold Heredia | 1988 | 1993 | 4–5 years | [14] |
| 6 | Rev. Inayat Bernard | 1993 | 2004 | 10–11 years | [15] |
| 7 | Rev. Rufin Anthony | 2004 | 2005 | 0–1 years | [16] |
| 8 | Rev. Augustine Soares | 2005 | 2012 | 6–7 years | [17] |
| 9 | Rev. Benjamin Shahzad | 2012 | 2019 | 6–7 years | |
| 10 | Rev. Kamran Taj | 2019 | incumbent | 1–2 years | [18] |
 | This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy.(January 2018) |
Evarist Pinto is the former archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan.
Lawrence John Saldanha is a retired archbishop from Pakistan. He was 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 on 16 January 1960.
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.
Father Victor Gnanapragasam O.M.I. was the first prefect of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.
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.
St. Francis Xavier Seminary is a Roman Catholic major seminary near Lahore, Pakistan.
St. Pius X Minor Seminary is the preparatory seminary in the Archdiocese of Karachi. It is located in North Nazimabad.
Agahi is a weekly published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. It is the first such paper to be published in Urdu – the national language – not only in the diocese but in the whole country. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore publishes an Urdu-language newspaper called Catholic Naqib but this is a fortnightly publication.
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.
St. Thomas the Apostle Minor Seminary is the preparatory seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad in Pakistan.
The Daughters of Saint Paul is a Roman Catholic religious order for women, and has had a presence in Pakistan since 1966.
Augustine Soares was a Roman Catholic priest in Karachi, Pakistan. He was born in Karachi and received his religious training at the Christ the King seminary. He was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi in 1969.
Sacred Heart Church is a 150-year-old church in a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi in Pakistan.
The National Catholic Institute of Theology (NCIT) is a Catholic theological institute established in Karachi, Pakistan in September 1997. It offers academic courses leading to a diploma in theology, as well as programs for laypeople and religious involved in Church ministries.
The Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference (PCBC) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Pakistan. Its objectives are to facilitate coordinated study and discussion of issues affecting the Church, and adoption of a common policy and effective action in all matters concerning the Church in Pakistan.
Joseph Indrias Rehmat is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Faisalabad in Pakistan.
Father Khalid Rehmat O.F.M. Cap. in Mianwali in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, is the Apostolic Vicar of the Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta in Pakistan.
