[2] He received his religious training at the Papal Seminary, Kandy, Sri Lanka and was ordained a priest on 24 August 1951.
He first worked as secretary to Franciscan Archbishop James Cornelius van Miltenburg of Karachi,[3] and Chaplain to the Sisters and flock at Manora.
[4] Following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he worked with Father Liberius, a scholar and linguist, to introduce Urdu into the liturgy.
[5] Pereira celebrated the silver jubilee of his episcopal ordination on 4 October 1996, with a bilingual Mass concelebrated with retired Franciscan Bishop Bonaventure Patrick Paul.
[6] After retiring in November 2002, he served as pastor of St. Thomas Church in Malir and as chaplain of the Dominican nuns at the Monastery of the Angels in Landhi.