Karachi, May 21 (TNS): Pakistan’s Christian community is set to get a second cardinal after a long span of 24 years after Pope Francis announced on Monday names of fourteen new cardinals which also includes the name of Joseph Coutts who hails from Karachi and is currently the Archbishop of the city.
Pope Francis made the announcement during Pentecost celebrations, according to which Arch Bishop Joseph Coutts will be appointed as cardinal on June 29.
After the death of Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro in 1994, Archbishop Joseph Coutts will become the second Pakistani to be honored with the prestigious position.
The 73-year-old has been serving as Head Bishop at Saint Patrick’s Church in Karachi for the last six years and he has also served as Bishop in Faisalabad and Hyderabad previously.
Archbishop Coutts has worked for 13 years as bishop in Faisalabad and has worked for the prosperity of Interfaith Harmony, for which he established a committee to resolve issues of religious differences between people belonging to various faiths.
“As compared to Faisalabad, Karachi is a major metropolitan city and there more ethnicities and difficulties between religious sects here.” said Archbishop Coutts, he further added “To bring peace in the city and among people we have to work on harmony and increase tolerance levels among every school of thought.”
Pope Francis announced on Sunday that a meeting would be held with the Church’s top council to appoint 14 new cardinals next month, including from countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, Japan, and Madagascar.
