Robert McCulloch SSC is an Australian priest and member of the

Missionary Society of St. Columban The Missionary Society of St. Columban () (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right founded in Ireland in 1917 and approved by the Holy See in 19 ...

, who served in Pakistan from 1978 to 2011. He was decorated by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

for his services to health and education in 2012.

Early life

McCulloch was born in 1946 in

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, to Bruce John McCulloch and Jean Frances Crowe. He was educated at St Patrick's School, Mentone, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Primary School,

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, and St Bede's College, Mentone.''The Far East'', September 1995. McCulloch entered the Society of St Columban in 1964, spending his initial year of probation in

Sassafras, Victoria Sassafras () is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne, beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 43 km east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Knox an ...

. He began his studies at St Columban's Seminary in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1965 and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest in 1970. In 1976 he received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Church History from

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Since 1978 he has worked to increase the education and basic health care of the poor and mainly non-Christian people of Pakistan.CathNews 18 September 2011
/ref>

Work in Pakistan

McCulloch has served in two Diocese of Hyderabad parishes:

Kotri Kotri (, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River, it is the 118th most populous city in Pakistan. Name The name ''Koṭri'' is the d ...

, a rural area east of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

; and

Machar Colony Machar Colony () or Machiara Colony/Mohammadi Colony () is an unplanned settlement in Karachi, Pakistan, located near the Port of Karachi and Harbour Kemari. The settlement is spread over an area of almost 4 square kilometers, and is home to abou ...

, a community of 300 Catholic families in the slums of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. After a spell in

Badin Badin ( Sindhi and ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 105th largest city in Pakistan. Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar. Badin Dist ...

, he started working with the semi-nomadic

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

tribe of

Parkari Kohli The Parkari Koli language (sometimes called just ''Parkari'') is an Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is spoken in the southeast tip bordering India, in the Tharparkar District, Nagarparkar. Most of the l ...

Tharparkar District Tharparkar ( Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier District (1860⁠– ...

. During this period, McCulloch helped the tribe design an

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

for their language, for which he called on two linguists for their help. After the local population had opted for using the Sindhi alphabet, with a few minor changes, people gathered proverbs and sayings and launched the first Parkari Kohli newspaper, ''Prem Paracha''. In this he helped to save the native language and culture. McCulloch has had as a goal of his ministry the improvement of health care in the country. He sits on the administrative board for St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Hyderabad. He has established an outreach medical program at the hospital to provide vaccinations for infants and children, medical care for their mothers, and diagnosis and care of tuberculosis patients. McCulloch has also developed schools in Pakistan that are now attended by more than 550 children. He has chaired the Board of Governors for the Centre of Academic Excellence, a project he initiated in 2007 to provide educational, spiritual, moral and personal formation for 100 Catholic boys. McCulloch has lectured at the

National Catholic Institute of Theology The National Catholic Institute of Theology (NCIT) is a Catholic theological institute established in Karachi, Pakistan in September 1997. It offers academic courses leading to a diploma in theology, as well as programs for laypeople and religio ...

Karachi, Pakistan Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in liturgy and church history. McCulloch has established a

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

unit. It is the first home-based palliative care unit for the terminally ill in Pakistan. The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Victoria, through its overseas development initiatives, is providing ongoing financial support for McCulloch's health and educational programs. In October 2012, the head of the Vatican's

Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Latin: ''Pontificium Consilium de Nova Evangelizatione''), also translated as Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia whose crea ...

, Archbishop

Rino Fisichella Salvatore "Rino" Fisichella (born 25 August 1951) is an Italian Catholic prelate with the rank of archbishop. He is the current pro-prefect for the New Evangelization section of the Dicastery for Evangelization. He was the president of the ...

launched Parts I and II of the Catholic Catechism in

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 ...

. McCulloch was involved in its translation from 2004 to 2012. Along with

Emmanuel Neno Emmanuel Neno is a Pakistani Christian author and translator. Major work Along with Robert McCulloch he completed a new Urdu translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2014. The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelizatio ...

this work was completed in 2014. The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization has approved the Urdu translation and authorised its publication. The translation took 13 years to complete.

Award

On 15 February 2012, the President of Pakistan approved conferment of ''Sitara'' class of the Nishan-e-Quaid-i-Azam on McCulloch for his services to Pakistan in health and education.From Australia, with love: Father McCulloch finds his true calling in Pakistan
Express Tribune On 25 March 2012, more than 600 people gathered at St Anthony's Church in Karachi for a special

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

to celebrate Sister

John Berchmans Conway John Berchmans Conway, R.J.M. (born Bernadette Conway 1929 – 21 December 2022), usually known as Sister Berchmans, was an Irish Roman Catholic religious sister and teacher who worked in Pakistan for 60 years. In 2012 she was decorated by th ...

RJM and McCulloch receiving the country's highest civilian award. McCulloch has been transferred to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and is serving as the Procurator General of the Society of St Columban.UCANews 27 March 2012
/ref> On 9 May 2012, McCulloch was inducted into the St Bede's Old Collegians Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCulloch, Robert 1946 births People from Alexandra, Victoria 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests Australian emigrants to Pakistan Australian Roman Catholic missionaries Catholic University of America alumni Living people Recipients of the Nishan-e-Quaid-i-Azam Religious leaders from Karachi Roman Catholic missionaries in Pakistan Roman Catholic medical missionaries Missionary educators 20th-century Pakistani Roman Catholic priests Missionary Society of St. Columban People educated at St Bede's College (Mentone)