Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta

Last updated

Archdiocese of Calcutta

Archidioecesis Calcuttensis
কলকাতার বিশপের এলাকা
Calcutta, Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary-2.jpg
Location
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
Ecclesiastical province Calcutta
Statistics
Area11,532 sq mi (29,870 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)
(as of 2006)
31,152,686
145,246 (0.5%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established18 April 1834
Cathedral Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary
Patron saint St Francis Xavier, [1] St Teresa of Calcutta [2]
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Archbishop Thomas D'Souza [3] [4]
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta (Latin : Archidioecesis Calcuttensis) is an ecclesiastical Latin Church territory of the Catholic Church in India.

Contents

History

The archdiocese was originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Bengal in 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI, and renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Bengal in 1850 by Gregory's successor, Pope Pius IX.

On 1 September 1886, when the Catholic hierarchy was created in British India by Pope Leo XIII, the vicariate was elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese and renamed as the "Archdiocese of Calcutta".

Over the course of times the archdiocese was frequently divided and new metropolitan provinces were created: Ranchi, Guwahati and Patna. As of 2020, the metropolitan province of Calcutta covers the state of West Bengal. The suffragan sees are: Asansol, Bagdogra, Baruipur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Krishnagar and Raiganj.

The archdiocese's cathedral, the seat of its archbishop, is the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, commonly called the "Portuguese Church". Calcutta also houses the oldest Catholic church in the area, the Basilica of the Holy Rosary, in Bandel - a former Portuguese settlement - some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the city of Kolkata.

The current archbishop of Calcutta is Thomas D'Souza, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on 23 February 2012. [5]

Territory

The archdiocese of Calcutta currently covers the Districts of Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Medinipur and North 24 Parganas in the state of West Bengal.

List of Ordinaries of Calcutta

Apostolic vicars of Bengal

Apostolic vicars of West Bengal [6]

Archbishops of Calcutta [6]

Saints and causes for canonisation

See also

Related Research Articles

An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese, or is a diocese, eparchy or similar permanent ordinariate that either has no bishop or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated bishop.

Bengali Christians

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.

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry

The Syro Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry-Niranam is a Syro-Malabar Catholic archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Mar Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Mar Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. And Mar Joseph Powathil is the bishop emeritus, having served from 1985 to 2007. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.

The Archdiocese of Singapore is an exempt archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Its territory includes all that is under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Singapore.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolitan see since its elevation by Pope Leo XIII on 1 September 1886.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bangalore is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in India. It was erected as pro-vicariate from, as Vicariate from, as Diocese of Mysore - Bangalore in the Ecclesiastical Metropolitan Province of Pondicherry in Southern India from, as Diocese of Bangalore on 13 February 1940 by Pope Pius XII, and elevated to the rank of a Metropolitan Archdiocese on 19 September 1953, with the Suffragan Dioceses of Belgaum, Bellary, Chikmagalur, Gulbarga, Karwar, Mangalore, Udupi, Mysore, and Shimoga.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives. It depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka is the Latin, main Metropolitan Metropolitan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bangladesh, but no longer the only one. It still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Paul Goethals

Paul-François-Marie Goethals, S.J., was a Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary in British India and the first Archbishop of Calcutta.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly

The Archdiocese of Verapoly (Verapolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church, composed of Latin Catholics of Malabar and headquartered at the city of Cochin, in the south Indian state of Kerala. The archdiocese has administrative control over the suffragan dioceses of Calicut, Cochin, Kannur, Kottapuram, Sultanpet and Vijayapuram. The headquarters is located in Kochi along the Malabar Coast in India. It was originally formed as the Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar in 1657 and became a metropolitan see in 1886. Verapoly is the anglicised name of Varapuzha.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state. It comproses the following districts in Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Aligarh, Auraiya, Budaun, Bulandshahr, Etah, Etawah, Farrukabad, Firozabad, Gautambudha Nagar, Hathras, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Mathura and in Rajasthan: Bharatpur and Dholpur.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore/Madras and Myliapor is an archdiocese based in the city of Madras, in India. It took also the name of the ancient diocese of Mylapore, now a part of Chennai.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore Latin: Pondicherien(sis) et Cuddaloren(sis) is an archdiocese located in the cities of Pondicherry and Cuddalore in India.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Poona

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pune is a diocese located in the city of Pune in the Ecclesiastical province of Mumbai in India.

Holy Rosary Cathedral, Kolkata Church in Kolkata, India

The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary in Burrabazar, Kolkata, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta. It is also known as the Murgihata Church and was founded in 1799.

Brice Meuleman Jesuit priest and missionary in British India

Brice Meuleman, S.J., D.D., was a Jesuit priest, a missionary in British India, and the second Archbishop of Calcutta.

Most Rev. Patrick Joseph Carew was the Vicar Apostolic of Western Bengal.

Archbishop Thomas D'Souza is a serving Archbishop of Calcutta and member of the Commission for Education of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.

Lucas Sirkar, SDB was an Indian Roman Catholic archbishop, He served as the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta. He was succeeded by Thomas D'Souza, the current serving Archbishop of Calcutta.

References

  1. "Mother Teresa named co-patron of Calcutta archdiocese | News Headlines". Catholic Culture. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  2. Manik Banerjee (6 September 2017). "Vatican declares Mother Teresa a patron saint of Calcutta". Associated Press, ABC News.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  3. "Archbishop Thomas D'Souza condemns rape of nun".
  4. asianetnews (1 September 2016), Mother Teresa's canonization : Kolkata archbishop Thomas d'souza Sharing Memories, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 20 August 2017
  5. (en) "Thomas D’Souza becomes Archbishop of Calcutta", Vatican Radio, 23 February 2012
  6. 1 2 (en) "Past and Present Ordinaries", Archdiocese of Calcutta, Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 2 February 2012
  7. "Saints & Blessed – CCBI" . Retrieved 17 October 2019.

Coordinates: 22°34′N88°21′E / 22.567°N 88.350°E / 22.567; 88.350