Pius Fidelis Pinto was born on 24 April 1960 in Gurpur, eight miles north-east of
Mangalore, to Frederick Pinto and Stella Pinto (née Lobo). His family is of
Mangalorean Catholic descent. He joined the St. Joseph's Seminary in Mangalore in 1975. Pinto completed his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in 1981 from
Mysore University,
Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in 1983 from
Karnatak University (
Dharwad), and
Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) degree in 1986 from
Pontifical Urbaniana University (Rome). He was ordained as a priest in 1986. Later, he completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in History in 1998 from Mysore University. Pinto has done vast research both in India and abroad. He has been awarded research scholarships by
Fundação Oriente (
Lisbon); Charles Wallace Trust (United Kingdom), and
University of Basel (Switzerland). Pinto is fluent in English,
Konkani,
Kannada,
Tulu,
Hindi, and can read/write but not speak
Portuguese. He is also the managing trustee of Samanvaya Prakashan, Mangalore.{{cite web ==Works==