The Congregation for the Propagation of Faith erected the Prefecture of Tibet - Hindustan in 1703 and entrusted it to the Capuchin Fathers of the Italian Province of Picenum in the Marches of Ancona. The first group of fathers reached Lhasa (Tibet) in 1707 and began Church work there. For nearly 41 years, the Capuchin Fathers worked in Lhasa until a religious persecution forced them to give up their mission and move to Kathmandu (Nepal) in 1745.
Nepal had seen the Capuchin Fathers working with varying success in Kathmandu since 1715. A new conqueror of Kathmandu valley, Raja Pritvi Narayan, who was not sympathetic to the Fathers stopped all support to them. The Mission of Nepal was also abandoned in 1769, and the Fathers with 62 Nepalese Christians and five catechumens moved to India. The Nepalese Christians and catechumens settled down at Chuhari near Bettiah. The scene of the capuchin Mission shifted now to the Indian soil. Fr Joseph Mary ofm cap, a saintly priest, founded the Bettiah Mission in 1745 after the King of Bettiah, Raja Druva Singh had obtained permission from Pope Benedict XIV.
Rome erected the Prefecture of Tibet-Hindustan into a Vicariate in 1812. In 1827 an Independent Patna Vicariate was created, comprising Bettiah, Chuhari, Patna City, Dinapore, Bhagalpur, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Nepal, and adjacent territories. The saintly Anastasius Hartmann, was appointed its first Vicar Apostolic. With a Decree of Pope Leo XIII Patna Vicariate became a part of Allahabad diocese in 1886. The North Bihar Mission with its four stations of Bettiah, Chuhari, Chakhani and Latonah was entrusted to the Tyrolese Capuchins in 1886. In May 1892 the North Bihar Mission was made Bettiah - Nepal Prefecture with Fr Hilarion of Abtei, ofm cap, as its first Prefect. In 1919 this Prefecture was dissolved and joined to South Bihar to form the present Diocese of Patna.
Pope Benedict XV by a Decree on 10 September 1919 divided the Diocese of Allahabad into two. The Diocese of Patna was thus created. The Prefecture of Bettiah-Nepal was annexed to the new diocese. The Holy See entrusted Patna diocese to American Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus. Later, on 13 November 1930, after the division of Missouri Province, Patna diocese was entrusted to the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. Louis Van Hoeck, a Belgian Jesuit, was ordained the first Bishop of Patna on 6 March 1921.
The Third Order Regular (T.O.R.) Franciscan Fathers from Pennsylvania, USA came to Patna diocese to assist the Jesuits in 1938. The mission stations of Bhagalpur, Gokhla, Poreyahat and Godda were assigned to them. In 1956 Bhagalpur was made a Prefecture and in 1965 it was created a Diocese with Msgr Urban Mc Garry, T.O.R., as its First Bishop.
The forbidden Kingdom of Nepal was once again open for Fathers in 1951, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Marshall D. Moran, S.J. Nepal was made an independent ecclesiastical unit in 1984 and Fr. Antony Sharma, S.J. was appointed as its First Mission Superior.
On 28 March 1980, Pope John Paul II, accepted the resignation of Bishop Augustine Wildermuth S.J., and divided the Patna diocese into two units: Patna and Muzzaffarpur. Fr Benedict J Osta S.J., was appointed Bishop of Patna.
The Diocese of Patna comprises in the State of Bihar, the Districts of Patna, Nalanda, Nawadah, Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Jehanabad, Bhojpur, Bhabhua, Buxar and part of Munger.
The Catholic Church in Benin is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often a promotion for a former apostolic prefecture, while either may have started out as a mission sui iuris. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more. The hope is that the region will generate sufficient numbers of Catholics for the Church to create a diocese one day.
The Ranchi Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese comprises the districts of Ranchi and Lohardaga of Jharkhand state, India. It was established by a decree of the Holy See dated 25 May 1927, when it was separated from the Calcutta Archdiocese to form a new Diocese, with its episcopal seat at Ranchi. In 1953 it was elevated to the status of an archdiocese. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi declares that it "subscribes to ahimsa and satyagraha".
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.
The Catholic Church in Pakistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.
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.
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lahore is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in Punjab province, Pakistan.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching is a Metropolitan Latin archbishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is however remains dependent on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in northern continental Greece.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding is a Latin Catholic diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan of Chongqing in western China, but still dependent on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
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.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gwalior is a diocese located in the city of Gwalior in the ecclesiastical province of Bhopal in India.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bettiah is a diocese located in the city of Bettiah in the ecclesiastical province of Patna in India.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bhagalpur is a diocese located in the city of Bhagalpur in the ecclesiastical province of Patna in India.
Giuseppe Maria Bernini, also known as Giuseppe Maria da Gargnano, 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.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta, originally the Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta, is a Latin Church missionary territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in Pakistan. It comprises the civil province of Balochistan and the Kachhi region of Punjab, Pakistan.
Christianity in Bihar, a state of India, is a minority religion, being practised by less than 0.5% of the population. Most people, about 83%, in Bihar are Hindus. Padri Ki Haveli is a Roman Catholic church in Bihar, which exists for centuries. The Diocese of Patna of the Church of North India and Emmanuel Christian Fellowship Centre (ECFC) are present in Bihar and the Pentecostal Holiness Church are present in Bihar as well as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Patna. The archdiocese has suffragan dioceses:the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bettiah, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bhagalpur, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buxar, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Muzaffarpur and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Purnea, all of whom have their seat in Bihar. Bihar has numerous house churches and a Christ Church Diocesan School exists in Patna. Indian Pentecostal church of God Northern Region is the leading and oldest Pentecostal church in Bihar. Oldest Pentecostal Fellowship started in Rajendra Nagar, Patna. Rev. Pramod K Sebastian is the Pastor.And Bihar has Christian Revival Church.
Marco della Tomba, O.F.M. Cap. (1726-1803), was an Italian Capuchin friar, who served as a missionary in North India, then called by its Persian name of Hindustan. He was a part of the Mission to Tibet financed by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, which still supervises the missionary activity of the Catholic Church throughout the world.
The Bettiah Christians, also known as Betiawi Christians, are the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest Christian community, which emerged in the 18th century. The origins of the Bettiah Christian community lie in Champaran in what is now the Indian state of Bihar, in which the king of the Bettiah Raj, Maharaja Dhurup Singh, invited Roman Catholic missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to establish the Bettiah Christian Mission there.
Evangelista Latino Enrico Vanni OFMCap was an Italian Bishop and missionary who served as the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia from 1916 to 1927 and the Archbishop of Agra from 1937 to 1955. He also served as the Titular Archbishop of Tenedus from 1916 to 1955 and Titular bishop of Bizya from 1955 until his death.
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