Eastern Orthodoxy in Pakistan is a Christian denomination in the country of

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# ...

. In 2011, the number of

Eastern Orthodox Christians Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millenni ...

in Pakistan was estimated at 500 people. The present population of Orthodox

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

in Pakistan is around 3,000. It represents approximately 0.0002% of the population.

Eastern Orthodox church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

es in the country are represented by the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

, the Patriarchate of Moscow and the

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Pat ...

(ROCOR) The five Eastern Orthodox parishes are Parish of Constantinople Patriarchate ( Wazirabad), Parish of the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

(MP) (

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

) Community of the Russian Orthodox Church (MP) (

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

), Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) (

Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...

) and Rahimyarkhan, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi Islamabad (Ghotki Sindh).

Organization

Patriarchate of Constantinople

In 2005, an Eastern Orthodox mission, headed by Pakistani priest John Tanveer, opened in Pakistan. In 1986 he began serving as a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

in Lahore. In 1990 he met with the Greek Orthodox general. Following the meeting, Tanveer visited Australia, where he became acquainted with

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

. In 1996, he resigned as Catholic priest in 1997, and married a graduate of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1998, Tanveer came in contact with the representatives of the Patriarchate of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and wrote a petition to adopt it in Eastern Orthodoxy. In 2001, his application was approved, and in 2003 he had his first meeting with the Eastern Orthodox bishop. In 2005, Tanveer and his family, as well as many other people, adopted Eastern Orthodoxy. During his missionary activity Tanveer opened a churchand catechetical school in his home. He translated into

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

liturgical texts and books (including "Conversations with St. Seraphim of Sarov"). He raised the issue of the official registration of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Pakistan to gather funds to build a spiritual center. Action also came in Wazirabad. On April 21, 2013 construction of the first Eastern Orthodox church began in Wazirabad. It was consecrated on February 6, 2014.

Moscow Patriarchate

The parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Islamabad was established on July 26, 2010, in compliance with the decision of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

. In October 2012, the foundation stone of the future church was laid in the territory of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Islamabad. Construction began in 2015 and finished in October 2016. In August 2017 a graduate of Tomsk Theological Seminary, Priest Paul Sushil (Anjum) started missionary work in Pakistan. Sushil was responsible for looking after the Orthodox communities in Lahore and Islamabad as the Representative of Russian Orthodox Church in Pakistan (Moscow Patriarchate).

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

ROCOR in Pakistan is headed by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First-Hierarch Hilarion Kapral. Its Mission is St.Michael the Archangel Orthodox Mission of Pakistan. The priest is Father Joseph Farooq, the only canonical ROCOR priest in the country. The Mission was started in 2008, canonically established in 2012 and registered in Pakistan in 2014. 780 believers make up the Russian Orthodox Family in Pakistan. The Church has spiritual and canonical union with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. St. Matrona of Moscow Adult Education Center and Sewing Center was founded in March 2016 as an outreach program of Mission to poor women. In April 2017 Father Farooq visited Russia to venerate the Holy Sites and Relics. Father Farooq wrote ''Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II’S Journey To Pakistan Notes of a Pakistani Orthodox Priest''. ROCOR Believers live in

, Ghotki, Rahimyarkhan,

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

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 ...

and

under the pastoral care of Father Farooq. Father Farooq translated books into Urdu for the benefit of Believers in Pakistan: ''Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom,'' ''Eastern Orthodox Prayer book,'' ''Catechism of Eastern Orthodox Church,'' often referred as a New Chrysostom ''Life of Saint Sergius of Radonezh'', ''Saint Seraphim of Sarov'', ''Righteous Father John of Kronstadt'', ''Blessed Mother Matrona of Moscow'' and ''Holy Royal Martyrs of Russia'' along with various Liturgical Texts,

Russian Orthodox Church Old Rite

The Russian Orthodox Church Old Rite in Pakistan was started in 2006, but canonically establish 2016 with the blessing of Eminence Metropolitan Korniliy and registered in 2017. Instrumental to the foundation of the Old-Rite church in Pakistan was Cyril Shahzad, a former Russian Orthodox priest who joined the Old-rite church after visiting Rogozhskoye. Russian Orthodox old believers live in Sargodha, Wazirabad, Islamabad, Bhalwal. They worship primarily in English and Urdu.

References

External links

* * {{Asia topic, Eastern Orthodoxy in