Rufin Anthony (12 February 1940 – 17 October 2016) was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop.

Early life

Anthony was born in Khushpur, Lyallpur District,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in

Faisalabad District Faisalabad District (Lyallpur District until 1979) ( Punjabi and ) is one of the districts of Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 2023 census of Pakistan it had a population of 9,075,819, of which 3,691,999 were in Faisalabad City. It is the t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). He completed his primary and secondary education in his hometown of Khushpur and received his religious training at the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Quetta and the Christ the King Major Seminary, Karachi. Anthony was ordained a priest of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of Roman civilization * Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter ...

on 29 June 1969. Additionally, he studied at the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Spirituality.

Career

The former

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Faisalabad diocese, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi The Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi (Lat: ''Dioecesis Islamabadensis-Ravalpindensis'') is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Pakistan. There is anecdotal evidence that St. Thomas the Apostle passed through Taxila (in this ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

on 4 August 2009. The Bishop-elect had served as formator and spiritual director at St. Pius X Minor Seminary in Quetta and as a professor at the Major Seminary in Karachi. He had also served as national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. He later served as rector of St. Thomas the Apostle Minor Seminary in Faisalabad and the major seminary in Karachi beginning 23 April 2004. He again became vicar general of the Faisalabad diocese in 2005 and was parish priest of Khushpur until the announcement of his new appointment. Anthony's other appointments included Parish Priest in Chak, Okara (1974–1976), Vicar General of Faisalabad and Parish Priest of the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul (1979–90), Parish Priest of Khushpur (1990–1994), and Parish Priest of Chak (1994–95). On 21 September 2009, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, apostolic nuncio to Pakistan, presided at the ordination of Bishop Anthony in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Rawalpindi. More than 1,500 people attended the event. Five days later, hundreds of people gathered in the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul, Faisalabad, to greet Bishop Anthony, a native of Faisalabad. He took possession of the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi on 21 September 2009. On 18 February 2010, Bishop Anthony automatically succeeded Bishop Lobo as Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi upon the latter's resignation. He spoke Italian, English, Urdu and Punjabi.

Death

Anthony died on 17 October 2016 in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. His funeral service was led by Bishop of Faisalabad (Bishop Joseph Arshad), Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan Archbishop

Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader (Arabic: غالب موسى عبد الله بدر; born 22 July 1951) is a Jordanian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico ...

, Bishop of Multan

Benny Mario Travas Benny Mario Travas (born 21 November 1966) is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. He served as Bishop of Multan from 2015 to 2021. Biography Travas was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on 21 November 1966. ...

, and Bishop of Hyderabad Samson Shukardin."Tributes paid to late Bishop Rufin"
Thenews.com.pk, 20 October 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Rufin 1940 births 2016 deaths 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Pakistan People from Khushpur Pontifical Urban University alumni Wikipedia requested photographs of Catholicism Pakistani expatriates in Italy Roman Catholic bishops of Islamabad-Rawalpindi