Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lahore is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in Punjab province, Pakistan. Its episcopal seat is the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore. History. In 1594 the Mughal emperor Akbar invited some Catholic priests from Goa to stay permanently at his court. This group of Jesuit missionaries arrived in the Punjab and were able to build a church, where they celebrated Christian ceremonies, and receive adults into the Church. It was founded in 1880 as Apostolic Vicariate of Punjab, on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Agra (now also a  Metropolitan Archbishopric). On 1 September 1886 it was promoted and renamed after its see as Diocese of Lahore. It lost vast territories repeatedly: On 15 November 1888, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith asked the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to manage the Diocese of Lahore. On 23 April 1994 the diocese was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan Archdiocese. Fr. Lawrence Saldanha was appointed Archbishop of Lahore by pope John Paul II. On 7 April 2011 Archbishop Saldanha retired as Archbishop of Lahore. On 18 December 2011, the archdiocese began celebrations to mark its 125th anniversary. Seventy -five priests and 200 catechists served then in 608 Mass centres in the archdiocese. Pope Francis on 3 July 2013 appointed Fr. Joseph Arshad of the Lahore Archdiocese as the bishop of the Faisalabad Diocese. Province. Its ecclesiastical province comprises the Metropolitan's own archdiocese and the following suffragan bishoprics: Extent. The Sacred Heart Cathedral is the principal church of the archdiocese. The archdiocese is also home to St. Joseph’s Church, Lahore, the oldest church of the Punjab, built in 1853. The archdiocese also publishes the Catholic Naqib, the oldest Urdu-language Catholic journal, founded in Lahore in 1929 . In 1964 the diocese opened the 215 bed Bethania Hospital, Sialkot which focuses mainly on preventing and treating TB. In 2008 it was treating 60,000 patients a year. Lahore archdiocese had 511,226 Catholics, 30 diocesan priests, and 214 nuns, according to the 2001 Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook. The largest Catholic archdiocese in Pakistan is divided into 26 parishes. The archdiocese is also home to the St. Francis Xavier Seminary. The country’s 1st National Eucharistic Congress was organised by the local Catholic Church 9–11 September 2005 at the Marian Shrine of Mariamabad, Lahore diocese. It drew 20,000 participants and  attracted ample media coverage local and national. The national Marian shrine of Mariamabad is situated 90 km from Lahore. Every year it draws thousands of clergy, religious and laity, families, other Christians and Muslims. Mariamabad shrine was opened in 1949 by a Belgian Capuchin Friar Frank who died a martyr. On 14 Feb 2009 Fr. Sebastian Francis Shah OFM was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lahore. The diocese is also home to Catholic TV, Pakistan the first Pakistani Catholic TV channel launched in 2009. In 2019, the Archdiocese had 29 parishes, 32 diocesan seminarians and 27 religious communities. Schools in the  Diocese. There were 57,744 students in Catholic schools in the archdiocese - 33 primary schools and 59 high schools. Some of the schools are: