Evarist Pinto

He was educated at St. Thomas High School, Goa, India.[2] In 1960 he started studying for priesthood at the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Quetta. He continued his religious training at the Christ the King Seminary in Karachi, where he was ordained a priest on 6 January 1968.[3] He is fluent in 10 languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, German, French and Konkani.[4]

Father Pinto taught Sacred Scripture at Christ the King Seminary and from 1987 to 1993[2] was pastor of St. Lawrence’s Church, Karachi.[5]

He obtained a doctorate in biblical theology at the Urbanian University, Rome, and a master's degree in sacred scripture at the "Biblicum". On 17 February 2000 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Karachi by Pope John Paul II. He became Archbishop of Karachi on 5 January 2004 on the retirement of the incumbent Archbishop Simeon Anthony Pereira. The seat of the Archdiocese of Karachi is at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi.[6] He selected as his motto "Preach the Good News to the Poor".[7]

On 30 April 2006 the Archdiocese attended the first-ever Catholic film screened in Pakistan. It was presented as "a historical moment" to the 450 guests at the premier of Muhjza [Miracle], held in St Paul's Parish, Azam Basti.[8]

In April 2008 Pinto performed the groundbreaking on the 2,044 square meter site of the new St. Pius X Minor Seminary.[9]

The 12th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops took place in Rome from 5–26 October 2008. Archbishop Pinto represented the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan at the Synod.[10]

In July 2011, Pinto attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the new St. John Marie Vianney Church in St Paul's Parish, Azam Basti. The Archdiocese plans to construct five new Churches in 2011.[11]

On 25 January 2012, Archbishop Pinto resigned after reaching the age of 75. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad as his replacement.[12]

After retirement Pinto spends much of his time writing books on Catholicism. He is the author of 31 books in English and many of these have been translated into Urdu.[2]