LAHORE CANTT (St Joseph) PARISH

Parish History

The foundation stone of St Joseph Church was laid in 1852 which was a part of Agra Diocese at that time. In 1886, Pope Leo announced erection of Lahore Diocese, so it was made suffragan to Lahore Diocese. In 1900 Lahore Cantt Parish was formed. Rev Fr Nathaniel, Rev Fr Roger and Rev Fr Henry have done great missionary work in this Parish along with some old catechists. Rev Fr Nasir Gulfam is the Parish Priest since September 1999 whereas Rev Fr Franz Labeeuw is serving the Lord as Assistant Priest.

Educational Sector

On 23 September 1946, St Joseph School was started in the church compound which is serving the people of the area diligently. This school was nationalized by the Government of Pakistan in 1972 and later on in July 2002 was handed over to the St Joseph Parish management. Now its name is St Anthony English Medium School. Along with this school the following schools are serving the community.

St Mary's High School, Mariam Nishat Colony
St Joseph School
Mariam Siddiqua High School, Doggage
St Francis School, Madi Shah di Khuee
Mehmood Boti Primary School
Lal Kurti School
Taitra School

Some statistics of the Parish

There are 123 colonies in the Parish in which 4920 families are residing. About 25000 Christians are living in this parish.

There are 30 churches in different areas of the Parish

The Parish has been divided into ten Catechist Centers for Pastoral work

Doggage
Salamatpura
Madi Shah di Khuee
Mominpura
Shah Shaheed
Mariam Colony
Meher Town
Bhatta Kohar
Babuwala
Taitra

Organizations

Youth group of the parish was established in 1960, which has done great work in the Parish and still working actively. The following organizations are also working the Parish.
St Vincent DePaul Society, which work in the field of Non-formal education and initiated Sewing Center and Adult Education Centers in the Parish
St Joseph Students Organization
Parish Development Council
Local Development Council (Baiel Ahata)
Local Development Council (Cantt Hospital)