Related Research Articles
Christianity is India's third-largest religion after Hinduism and Islam, with approximately 27.8 million followers, constituting 2.3 percent of India's population. According to the tradition of Saint Thomas Syrian Christians of Kerala, Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have reached the Malabar Coast of Kerala in 52 AD. There is a general scholarly consensus that Christian communities were firmly established in the Malabar Coast of Kerala by the 6th century AD, which were Syrian Christians of Kerala. Starting from European colonisations from 15th century several Western Christians like Latin Catholics and Protestants came into existence in the cities of Portuguese Goa and Damaon and British India. The Goa Inquisition was established in Portuguese India to enforce Catholic orthodoxy in the Indian colonies of the Portuguese Empire, and to counter the New Christians, who were accused of "crypto-Hinduism", and the Old Christian Nasranis, accused of "Judaising". It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774 to 1778, continued thereafter until finally abolished in 1812. During the Maratha Invasion of Goa (1683) and the Battle of Bassein most of the churches and convents built by the inquisition were demolished and converted to Hindu temples of the Kuldevta of the Marathi castes, such as Ganpati. The former Christian majorities of Mumbai Bassein (Vasai) and Thana districts were reconverted, Shuddhis were enforced by Marathi Peshwa Brahmins and Maratha castes who saw the converts as impure because as Christians they were eating beef.
Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, 225 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India.
Bengali Christians are adherents of Christianity among the Bengali people. Christianity took root in Bengal after the arrival of Portuguese voyagers in the 16th century. It witnessed further conversions among the Bengali upper-caste elite during the 19th century Bengali Renaissance.
The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope and the Curia in Rome.There are over 20 million Catholics in India, representing around 1.55% of the total population, and the Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church in India. There are 10,701 parishes and 174 dioceses in India, organised into 29 provinces. Of these, 132 are of the Latin Catholic Church; 31 are Syro-Malabar Church and 11 are Malankara Syrian Catholic Church dioceses. Despite the small percentage of the Indian population Catholics represent, India has the second-largest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines.
The Catholic Church in Nepal is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. As of 2011 there are over 10,000 Catholics in Nepal, organized into one Catholic jurisdiction known as an apostolic vicariate.
Christianity is, according to the 2011 census, the fifth most practiced religion in Nepal, with 375,699 adherents, or 1.4% of the population. However, it is widely claimed that non-Hindus are systematically under-reported in Nepal's censuses, and informed observers have estimated that there are at least 1 million Nepali Christians. According to some Christian groups, there may be as many as 3 million Christians in Nepal, constituting up to 10% of the country's population. A report by Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary identified the Nepali church the fastest growing in the world. The vast majority of Nepali Christians are evangelical Protestants ; there is also a small Catholic population of roughly 10,000.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Patna is an archdiocese located in the city of Patna, in the state of Bihar (India).
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bettiah is a diocese located in the city of Bettiah in the Ecclesiastical province of Patna in India.
Giuseppe Maria Bernini, who lived from 1709–1761, was an Italian Capuchin missionary, physician and Orientalist. His efforts led to the establishment of the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest Christian community—the Bettiah Christians. Bernini was the first European to author tracts in Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), as well as to translate Indian classics from Sanskrit into Italian.
Bettiah Raj was the second-largest zamindari in the region of India now known as Bihar. It generated annual land revenue rentals of more than 2 million rupees.
Christianity is a minority religion in Maharashtra, a state of India. 79.8% of the population of Maharashtra are Hindus, Christian adherents being 1.0% of the population. The Roman Catholic archdiocese whose seat is in Maharashtra is Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay. There are two different Christian ethnic communities in Maharashtra: one is East Indians who are predominantly Roman Catholic and another is Marathi Christians, predominantly Protestant with a small Roman Catholic population. The Catholics in Maharashtra are mainly concentrated in coastal Maharashtra, specially Vasai, Mumbai, Raigad and are known as East Indians, were evangelised by Portuguese missionaries during 15th-16th century. Protestants, who reside throughout the Maharashtra, being significant in Ahmednagar, Solapur, Pune Aurangabad and Jalna are called Marathi Christians, Who are more recent converts evangelised by British and American missionaries during British rule in India. The Church of North India has dioceses in the state and is a large Protestant church with full communion with the Anglican Church.
Followers of Christianity are a significant minority in Odisha state of India. According to the 2011 Census, Christians make up about 2.77% of the population. Kurukh, Sora, Kharia and Panos are notable ethnic groups with a significant Christian population.
Christianity in West Bengal, India, is a minority religion. According to the 2011 census, there were 658,618 Christians in West Bengal, or 0.72% of the population. Although Mother Teresa worked in Kolkata (Calcutta), Christianity is a minority religion in Kolkata as well. West Bengal has the highest number of Bengali Christians. Bengali Christians have been established since the 16th century with the advent of the Portuguese in Bengal. Later in the 19th and 20th centuries, many upper-class Bengalis converted to Christianity during the Bengali Renaissance under British rule, including Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Anil Kumar Gain, and Gnanendramohan Tagore. Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee was the first Indian to be Anglican Bishop of Calcutta
Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast in AD 52. In the colonial age many Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians came to Tamil Nadu. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonisers but also to spread the Christian faith among the non-Christians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
Christianity is a small minority in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state of India. Uttar Pradesh is within the territory of Lucknow and Agra Diocese of Church of North India and of the Archdiocese of Agra and some Christian Revival Church fellowship.
Christians form 1.3% of the total population in Punjab, India. Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism are the other religions in the state. John Lowrie and William Reed were missionaries who went there in 1834. The Diocese of Amritsar of the Church of North India has its seat in Punjab as does the Roman Catholic diocese of Jalandhar. There are thousands of settlements with a Christian congregation. From 1881 to 1891 the Christian population of the then still united Punjab increased rapidly.
Christianity is a minority religion in Madhya Pradesh, a state of India. Hindus form the majority in the state. The Dioceses of Bhopal and of Jabalpur of the Church of North India have their seats in Madhya Pradesh. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bhopal, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gwalior, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Indore, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jabalpur, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jhabua, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Khandwa, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Sagar the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Satna and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Ujjain have their seat in the state. The Presbyterian Free Church, which is a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches has its seat in the state. Jabalpur has Christ Church Boys Senior Secondary School.
The Bettiah Christians, also known as Betiawi Christians, are the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest Christian community, which emerged in the 18th century. Upper-caste Hindus and Muslims who converted to Christianity in the 18th and 19th centuries constitute the majority of the Indo-Aryan ethnoreligious community of Bettiah Christians. The origins of the Bettiah Christian community lie in Champaran, in which the king of the Bettiah Raj in India, Maharaja Dhurup Singh, invited Roman Catholic missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to establish the Bettiah Christian Mission there.
The Sisters of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the Indian city of Bettiah in 1927. Their charism is "education and catechetical instruction, care of the sick and social service according to the needs of the church and time."
References
- ↑ "Population by Religion in Bihar". Censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ↑ "Update from Bihar Indian Pentecostal church of God Northern Region (IPCNR) is the leading and oldest Pentecostal church in Bihar. Oldest Pentecostal Fellowship started in Rajendra Nagar, Patna". Baptistsonmission.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ↑ "Christ Church Diocesan School, Patna, Bihar". Bihartalk.com. 2010-06-22. Archived from the original on 2013-07-14. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 John, Jose Kalapura (2000). Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 61. Indian History Congress. p. 1011-1022.
- ↑ "Bihar Christians have fostered faith harmony 250 years". Union of Catholic Asian News. 6 November 1995. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
Cherubim John, a writer and historian, said the Bettiah community began after Italian Capuchin Father Joseph Mary Bernini cured the local queen of an "incurable" illness. The king donated 16 hectares of land later known as the "Christian Quarters" to the Capuchins. The king allowed Father Bernini, who was on his way to Tibet, to preach, and helped build a church next to his palace.
- ↑ "India". GAMEO. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ↑ "ECFC". blogspot. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
- ↑ Archived November 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Gospel Echoing Missionary Society(GEMS) – Welcome to the Frontpage!". Gemsbihar.org. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ↑ "Total population by religious communities". Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
