Cardinal Joseph Coutts is a retired Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan, who has focused on building bridges between communities and promoting peace and understanding in a challenging environment for religious minorities.

Born on July 21, 1945, in Amritsar, India, Coutts was ordained priest on January 9, 1971, in Lahore, Pakistan. The cardinal holds a doctorate in philosophy.

His ecclesiastical career progressed rapidly, with several significant appointments. On May 5, 1988, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Hyderabad, Pakistan, and was consecrated as bishop on September 16 of the same year. He succeeded as Bishop of Hyderabad on September 1, 1990.

Coutts’ leadership qualities were further recognized when he was appointed Bishop of Faisalabad on June 27, 1998, following the death of Bishop John Joseph. His most notable appointment came on January 25, 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI named him Archbishop of Karachi, a position he held until 2021.

On May 20, 2018, Pope Francis announced his elevation to the rank of cardinal. This announcement was met with great joy and celebration among both Christians and Muslims in Pakistan, as Coutts became only the second cardinal from the predominantly Muslim nation, 45 years after the first.

Cardinal Coutts is known for his tireless efforts in promoting interfaith harmony, education, and social welfare in Pakistan. He has been actively involved in initiatives to encourage peaceful coexistence among people of different religions and was present for the signing of the Human Fraternity document in Abu Dhabi in 2019. In recognition of his contributions, it was announced that he would receive the “Tamgha-e-Imtiaz” award, one of Pakistan’s highest civilian honors.

Throughout his career, Cardinal Coutts has been a vocal advocate for the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. He has often spoken out against the misuse of blasphemy laws and has worked to promote understanding between different faith communities. His efforts in this regard have been widely praised, both within Pakistan and internationally. His work has consistently focused on building bridges between communities and promoting peace and understanding in a sometimes challenging environment for religious minorities.

Cardinal Coutts appears to be supportive of Pope Francis’s efforts to promote synodality in the Catholic Church and fully subscribes to the concept. He described the recent Synod on Synodality as “unique” and the first time in the Catholic Church that such a broad, universal process has been undertaken. He noted that Pope Francis is “breaking away from that pyramidal Church structure” and trying to get “all the faithful involved.”

Coutts acknowledged challenges to implementing synodality, especially in a context like Pakistan with high illiteracy rates and a geographically dispersed population. However, he seemed optimistic about the process, stating “we got off to a good start, but we have to continue working on it.”

Coutts has expressed concern about how actions by Western countries can negatively impact Christians in Pakistan. He noted that following certain policies or events in the West, Pakistani Christians often face repercussions because some Muslims associate them with Western Christianity. He criticized the “duplicity, the hypocrisy” of the United States and European Union, arguing that their actions with respect to Muslim-majority countries have contributed to the rise of Islamic extremism as Muslims equate the two and blame the West for conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other territories.

Cardinal Coutts has great linguistic prowess and is fluent in several languages, including English, Italian, German, French, Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi.