Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta explained

Jurisdiction:Archdiocese
Calcutta
Latin:Archidioecesis Calcuttensis
কলকাতার বিশপের এলাকা
Country: India
Province:Calcutta
Area Sqmi:11,532
Population:31,152,686
Population As Of:2006
Catholics:145,246
Catholics Percent:0.5
Denomination:Catholic
Established:18 April 1834
Cathedral:Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary
Patron:St Francis Xavier,[1] St Teresa of Calcutta[2]
Bishop:Thomas D'Souza[3]
Bishop Title:Archbishop
Archdeacon:for one-->
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.

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., 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.[4]

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[5]

Archbishops of Calcutta[5]

Saints and causes for canonisation

See also

External links

22.5667°N 109°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mother Teresa named co-patron of Calcutta archdiocese | News Headlines . Catholic Culture . 2020-02-26 . 5 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170905211133/http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=32646 . live .
  2. News: Vatican declares Mother Teresa a patron saint of Calcutta. Manik Banerjee. 6 September 2017. Associated Press, ABC News.com. 6 September 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170906160015/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vatican-declares-mother-teresa-patron-saint-calcutta-49651357. 6 September 2017.
  3. News: Archbishop Thomas D'Souza condemns rape of nun. 13 May 2023. 14 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200114182051/https://www.news18.com/videos/page-416/. live.
  4. (en) "Thomas D’Souza becomes Archbishop of Calcutta", Vatican Radio, 23 February 2012
  5. (en) "Past and Present Ordinaries", Archdiocese of Calcutta, Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 2 February 2012
  6. Web site: Saints & Blessed – CCBI. Oct 17, 2019. 18 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200218103142/http://ccbi.in/saints-blessed/. live.