Christophe Zakhia El-Kassis
Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan
Personal Details:
Born: 24 Aug 1968
Ordination: 21 May 1994
El-Kassis graduated in Utroque iure i.e. doctorate in both civil law and church law. He received the sacrament of Holy Orders on 21 May 1994. He joined the Vatican diplomatic service on 19 June 2000, and has served in the apostolic nunciatures in Indonesia, Sudan and Turkey. He knows the following languages: Arabic, French, Italian, English, Indonesian, Spanish and German. On 24 November 2018 Pope Francis appointed him as Titular Archbishop of Rusellae and named him Apostolic nuncio in Pakistan.
Archbishop Benny Mario Travas
Personal Details:
Born: 21 Nov 1966
Ordination: 21 Nov 1990
Appointed Archbishop of Karachi: 21 April 2021
Address:
Archbishop’s House,
St. Patrick’s Cathedral,
Shahrah-e-Iraq, Saddar, Karachi
Phone: +92-21-32781533
On 11 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Travas to succeed Joseph Coutts as Archbishop of Karachi. Travas was installed as Archbishop of Karachi at the St Patrick’s Cathedral on 11 April 2021.
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. He graduated from the Christ the King seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Karachi on 7 December 1990.
Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw
Archdiocese of Lahore
Personal Details:
Born: 14 Nov 1957
Ordination: 6 Dec 1991
Appointed Archbishop of Lahore: 14 Nov 2013
Address:
Archbishop’s House,
Sacred Heart Cathedral,
1-Lawrence Road, Lahore-54000
Phone: +92-42-36366137
On 14 February 2009 Bishop Shaw was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lahore by Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Shaw holds a Master of Science degree in Guidance and Counselling from De La Salle University in Manila.
Bishop Shaw was consecrated as Bishop at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore, on 25 April 2009. The principal celebrant was the Archbishop of Lahore Lawrence Saldanha, who was assisted by Most Rev Max John Rodrigues, Bishop of Hyderabad and Most Rev Joseph Coutts, Bishop of Faisalabad.
On 27 October 2013 Pope Francis appointed Shaw as a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and appointed Bishop Shaw as Archbishop of Lahore on 14 November 2013.
Archbishop Joseph Arshad
Bishop of Faisalabad
Personal Details:
Born: August 25, 1964
Ordination: November 1, 1991
Pope Francis on November 01, 2013 appointed Fr. Arshad as the bishop of the Faisalabad Diocese. After being ordained as bishop of Faisalabad on November 1, Bishop Joseph Arshad performed his first mass in St. Joseph’s Church, Lahore on 3 November 2013. He completed his schooling from St Joseph’s High School in the Parish. Bishop Arshad is also Vice President of Catholic Bishop Conference of Pakistan and head of the Commission for Social Communications. On 8 December 2017 Pope Francis transferred Arshad as the bishop of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi diocese in Pakistan. He also conferred on him the “personal title” of archbishop.
Bishop Samson Shukardin
Bishop of Hyderabad-Pakistan
Personal Details:
Born: January 29, 1961
Ordination: December 10, 1993
On 16 December 2014 Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Max John Rodrigues in accordance with canon 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. The Pope then appointed Fr. P. Samson Shukardin OFM as the new bishop of the Diocese.
He was consecrated bishop on 31 January 2015. The Principal Consecrator was Bishop Max John Rodrigues, Bishop Emeritus of Hyderabad, while the Principal Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi and Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore. The Diocese of Hyderabad covers 137,000 square kilometers.
Bishop Khalid Rehmat
Vicar Apostolic Of Quetta
Personal Details:
Born: August 5, 1968
Ordination: 16 August 2008
Bishop Khalid Rehmat O.F.M. Cap. was born on Aug. 5, 1968, in Mianwali. On January 10, 2021, Pope Francis named him as the new Vicar Apostolic of Quetta.
Bishop Khalid had also served as parish priest in Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Parish, Sialkot, in the Archdiocese of Lahore. Since 2013, he has been editor of the fortnightly magazine Catholic Naqeeb.
In November 2020, he was elected Custos of the ‘Mariam Siddeeqa Capuchin Custody’ in Pakistan.
He is the first Pakistani Capuchin priest to be named bishop and was consecrated on March 25, 2021.
