After ordination, he completed ecclesiastical studies in Rome from 1973 to 1976 and then became professor of philosophy and sociology at Christ the King Regional Seminary, Karachi, rector of St. Mary's Minor Seminary, Lahore, and diocesan vicar general from 1986 to 1988.[3]
On 5 May 1988 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Hyderabad in Pakistan by Pope John Paul II and consecrated a bishop on 16 September.[citation needed] He chose as his episcopal motto the word Harmony.[4] He became Bishop of Hyderabad on 1 September 1990.[1] On 27 June 1998 he was appointed Bishop of Faisalabad.
Coutts is the longtime Chairman of Caritas Pakistan and directed its earthquake relief efforts in 2005.[5]
In Faisalabad he developed ties with Muslim scholars and clerics.[3] The Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany, awarded Bishop Coutts the 2007 Shalom Prize for his commitment to interfaith dialogue in Pakistan. For 25 years, the award has been given to people and projects working for human rights.[6]
On 25 January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi to succeed Archbishop Evarist Pinto.[7][8] Anticipating his return to the city where he had studied and taught, he stressed the challenges posed by the city's refugee-driven population explosion and the "sporadic bursts of violence and terrorism" that had become a feature of life in Karachi.[3]
In both Faisalabad and Karachi, he has campaigned against Pakistan's blasphemy law, which he believes is too easily manipulated for personal attacks or to target religious minorities for insubstantial or pretended offenses.[9][10] In Karachi he has established multiple connections for inter-religious dialog between Muslims and Catholics, aiming at both acceptance by the general population and increased understanding on the part of political and religious leaders.[4]
Coutts was hospitalized with pneumonia and unable to travel to Rome to receive his pallium, the symbol of his status as a metropolitan archbishop, from Pope Benedict in June 2012.[5]
On 9 January 2021, he celebrated 50 years of his priestly ordination by celebrating Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral.[15] His resignation as Archbishop of Karachi was accepted on 11 February 2021.[16]
Dom Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church. He has served as Archbishop of Goa and Daman since 2004, and previously as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1993 to 2004. Ferrão was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022. He is the sixth prelate of Goan origin to attain the rank, but the first to be concurrently Archbishop of Goa and Daman since an episcopal see was established there in 1557.
The Catholic Church in Pakistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.
Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro was a Catholic prelate who in 1973 became the first Pakistani cardinal.
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."
Valerian Gracias was an Indian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Bombay from 1950 until his death and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.
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 Church 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Antoine Kambanda is a Rwandan prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Kigali since 2019. He was Bishop of Kibungo from 2013 to 2018.
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.
Toribio Ticona Porco is a Bolivian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Corocoro from 1992 to 2012 after serving as Auxiliary Bishop of Potosí from 1986 to 1992. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 28 June 2018.
Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda is a Japanese prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Osaka-Takamatsu since 2023 and was Archbishop of Osaka from 2014 to 2023. He was Bishop of Hiroshima from 2011 to 2014. Pope Francis elevated him to the cardinalate on 28 June 2018.
Joseph Indrias Rehmat is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Faisalabad in Pakistan.
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