KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday approved Rs250 million for the restoration of St Patrick’s Cathedral built in 1845.

The chief minister took the decision at a meeting with a delegation of St Patrick’s Cathedral hea­ded by Rector Rev Mario Rodriguez at CM House, according to Mr Shah’s spokesperson.

The renovation will include the interior construction of the cathedral comprising glass, stone and woodwork dating back to pre-Partition era.

He told the delegation that the sum of Rs250m will be disbursed over a period of three years.

“Our government will initially give you Rs50m provided you [church delegation] complete all documentary requirements,” he said. The rector told the CM that the Christian community would also contribute funds for the repair. CM Shah said the heritage committee and experts must be involved in the restoration work.

Mr Shah was told that St Patrick’s Church, the first church in Sindh, was built in 1845 in the gothic revival architecture style, with a capacity to accommodate 1,500 churchgoers.

The chief minister said the Gazetteer of Sindh provides a detailed description of the cathedral, reading it out from his iPad, he said: “The church exterior is not ornamental, though striking from a distance, but money and art have been lavished on the interior. The chancel, itself spacious, acquires a special impressiveness but its additional height, while the noble contours of the aspiring altar are seen to the best advantage. The whole interior is painted in oil and the windows are all of stained glass, donated by the members of the congregation.”

A chancel is the part of the church near the altar, where the priests and the choir (singers) sit during services.

Mr Shah was told the stained-glass windows in the cathedral were designed and manufactured by a German stained glass company, Franz Mayer, depicting different and beautiful scenes. The chief minister said the scenes needed to be restored.

The CM praised the Christian community for their contribution to Pakistan’s development, particularly Sindh and told the delegation that he had once been a student at St Patrick’s School.

In his book Karachi Legacies of Empire by journalist and poet Peerzada Salman writes about the cathedral, “Flanked by St Joseph’s Girls School and St Patrick’s Girls High School, St Patrick’s Cathedral is not just ‘a tall building with towers and bells’, it signifies a certain period in our history of dignity, peace and compassion.

“The marble, Christ the King monument in the foreground of St Patrick’s Cathedral … was constructed in 1931 (half a century after the church was built) to honour the memory of the Jesuit Mission in Sindh.”

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2019