A pleasent surprise. What a pleasant surprise. Finding Our Lady of Fatima sandwiched between Reno Center and Gul Plaza is such a pleasant surprise. Our generation has seen a state of M. A. Jinnah road which would have made Karachiites of yore sick. The road which made a vibrant art gallery once is turning into the most polluted one with tasteless towers of consumerism replacing elegant structures commissioned by notable Karachi wallas. But once you enter the littered street right before the intersection of Garden and M.A. Jinnah road, the sense of loss strikes you right in the heart. At the beginning of the street, once stood the head office of East India Tram Company. Now it is a shopping mall known as Gul Plaza. At the end of the street was famous Reno Cinema which has been replaced by a forgettable structure, that kind of structures that make Karachi architecture scene mundane and characterless but lets leave the sad story of the Tram company and Cinemas for a while and talk about something beautiful.
This thing of beauty and solace is known as Our Lady of Fatima Church. Its a small church inside a larger compound which shares the wall with Reno Center. There is a school and few offices also. The church is dedicated to the miraculous appearance of the blessed Virgin Mary in a small village of Fatima in Portugal. According to the legend, The Blessed Virgin Mary, appeared to 3 shepherd children in 1917. The village of Fatima had remained faithful to the Catholic Church during the state persecutions. Her message was that war is a punishment for sin; that God would punish the world unless we listened to and obeyed the command of God. It was followed by a miracle known as Dance of the Sun. Now the place has become a major pilgrimage site and many churches have been erected in memory of the miracle. On the 13th July 1962, the construction started of a church in Karachi and On the 8th Sep, 1963, the Church was blessed and dedicated to Our lady of Fatima.
The church has a design which is uncharacteristic to this part of the world. The church is in circular shape with large glass windows on the facade. The seating is in semi circular shape encircling the rostrum. There is a small balcony where music instruments are kept. There is a cricket pitch outside, possibly used by the students of the school. Saturdays and Sundays is a busy affair here. People from nearby areas come here for prayers.
-
- The School
-
- Temples of Consumerism
-
- Unique structure for a Karachi Church
The Karachi Walla 
I am a parishioner of this church and was very glad to see an article on it. I fully agree with you on how horrifying and barbaric the structures in Karachi are. Yet we there are still few structures left which show out the true essence of Karachi.
The premises of the church today is literally treated like a garbage bin by the neighboring buildings, they know we can see them throwing things yet they still do not have an fear. Is this the treatment we deserve.
It’s really a shame to see our old city treated this way….
main fatima church jana chahti hun .plz hme gadhi maidan se fatima church jane ka .add bataye plz
I can help you with the address, but i really do not know where gadhi maidan is :s
I think the person is talking about
Zoo garden
I lived in the Parish but belonged to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. That was 50 years. I cannot understand why the urdu translation is NOT AT ALL a translation. Can someone enlighten me. By the way I still know my URDU. I am in Canada.
Tony
Its called Roman Urdu, like it’s Urdu written actually in English, so that everyone can understand.
I used to live in Commisariat Lines, not far from the church, which wasn’t built then (1955-1960), but my mother was a teacher in the school when it was built.
my school
is so lovely