Pakistan’s largest church inaugurated

(November 14, 2011) The largest Catholic building in Pakistan was inaugurated last week when the papal representative to the country blessed St. Peter’s Church in Karachi. Thousands of faithful attended the inaugural Mass that was concelebrated by Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, Archbishop Evarist Pinto of Karachi and 37 priests from all over Pakistan. It took 11 months to complete the 5,000 capacity church. The previous largest Catholic place of worship was St. Patrick's Cathedral, also in the port city of Karachi, the capital of the southern province of Sindh, and the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan. Archbishop Pinto said that the construction of St. Peter’s Church is a sign of the growth of their faith as its construction has been "a great challenge," and he called upon the faithful to serve the Church with greater responsibility. Apostolic Nuncio Pena Parra read a message in which Pope Benedict XVI stressed on "the abundance of divine mercy" which is also revealed through concrete actions. The project was funded by various catholic agencies such as the Pontifical Mission Societies, Missio, the German diocese of Rothenberg and the Italian bishops’ conference.