The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka ( la, Archidioecesis Dhakensis) is the Latin, main Metropolitan Metropolitan

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, but no longer the only one. It still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The archdiocese's Marian

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...

and thus seat of its archbishop is St. Mary's Cathedral in the national capital

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. As senior Metropolitan in Bangladesh, it is the principal

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

of that country. the Archbishop of Dhaka is

Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze OMI (born 9 February 1956) is a Bangladeshi prelate of the Catholic Church who has been archbishop of Dhaka since 2020. He held positions of responsibility in his order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, before ser ...

, formerly Bishop of Sylhet, having been appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in September 2020.

Ecclesiastical province

Its

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

still has as suffragan sees *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dinajpur The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dinajpur ( la, Dioecesis Dinaipurensis) is a diocese located in Dinajpur District, Rajshahi Division, in the Ecclesiastical province of Dhaka in Bangladesh. History * May 25, 1927: Established as Diocese of Dinajpu ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Mymensingh The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mymensingh ( la, Dioecesis Mymensinghensis) is a diocese located in the city of Mymensingh in the Ecclesiastical province of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Bishop Ponen Paul Kubi, CSC, DD is head of the Diocese of Mymensingh. ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rajshahi The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rajshahi ( la, Dioecesis Raishahiensis) is a diocese located in the city of Rajshahi in the Ecclesiastical province of Dhaka in Bangladesh. History * May 21, 1990: Established as the Diocese of Rajshahi from the Dio ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sylhet The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sylhet ( la, Dioecesis Sylhetensis) is a diocese in Bangladesh, and comprises the civil districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, and Moulvibazar. It lies in the Ecclesiastical province of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Lea ...

. On 2 February 2017, it lost as suffragans the newly created Metropolitan

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong ( la, Archidioecesis Chittagongensis), renamed Chattogram on 28 December 2018, is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh. The Archdiocese of Chittagong is the metropo ...

and both its suffragan sees:

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Dist ...

and Kulna.

History

It was erected it as the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Bengal by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

on 12 February 1850. It was promoted as Diocese of Eastern Bengal on 1 September 1886, and renamed as the Diocese of Dacca after its see in 1887. On 25 May 1927 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Chittagong, as its suffragan, but since 2017 itself a Metropolitan. It was elevated to

Metropolitan Archdiocese A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

of Dacca by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

on 15 July 1950, On 17 January 1952 it lost territory to establish the

Apostolic Prefecture of Haflong The Roman Catholic Diocese of Aizawl ( la, Aizavlen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Aizawl in the Ecclesiastical province of Shillong in India. History * 17 January 1952: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Haflong from the Met ...

. It enjoyed its papal visit, from

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

, in November 1970.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

renamed it as the Archdiocese of Dhaka on 19 October 1982. It enjoyed a second papal visit from Pope John Paul II in November 1986. It lost territory on 15 May 1987 to establish the Diocese of Mymensingh and on 8 July 2011 again to establish the Diocese of Sylhet, as its suffragans.

Leadership

Ordinaries

Below is a list of individuals who have led the Archdiocese of Dhaka and its antecedent jurisdictions since its founding.

Apostolic Vicars of Eastern Bengal

* Thomas Oliffe (1850–1855), appointed Apostolic Vicar of Western Bengal * Fr. Louis Verité (1855–1860), as Pro-Apostolic Vicar * Pierre Dufal (1860–1876), resigned; in 1878, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Galveston, U.S. * Giordano Ballsieper (1878–1886)

Bishops of Dhaka

* Augustin Louage (1890–1894) * Peter Joseph Hurth (1894–1909), appointed

Bishop of Nueva Segovia The Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It covers the province of Ilocos Sur, on the island of Luzon. The see of the archdiocese is the city of Vigan.Lawrence Leo Graner (1947–1950 ''see below'')

Archbishops of Dacca

* Lawrence Leo Graner (''see above'' 1950–1967) *

Theotonius Amal Ganguly Theotonious Amal Ganguly, CSC, (18 January 1920, in Hashnabad, Bangladesh – 2 September 1977) was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka from 1967 until his death on 2 September 1977. Archbishop Ganguly was a religious of the Congregation o ...

(1967–1977)

Archbishops of Dhaka

* Michael Rozario (1977–2005) *

Paulinus Costa Paulinus Costa (19 October 1936 – 3 January 2015) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the archdiocese of Dhaka from 2005 to 2011. Career Costa was born in Gazipur, Bangladesh. He was ordained as a priest on 21 December 1963. He was appointed ...

(2005–2011) *

Patrick D'Rozario Patrick D'Rozario, CSC ( bn, প্যাট্রিক ডি'রোজারিও, translit=Pyaṭrik ḍi'rojario; born 1 October 1943) is a Bangladeshi prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dhaka from 2011 to 2020. He beca ...

(2011–2020) *

(2020–present)

Coadjutor bishops

Under the

Code of Canon Law Code of Canon Law () may refer to: * ''Corpus Juris Canonici'' ('Body of Canon Law'), a collection of sources of canon law of the Catholic Church applicable to the Latin Church until 1918 * 1917 Code of Canon Law, code of canon law for the Catholi ...

, the

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

has the right of succession (''cum jure successionis'') upon the death, retirement or resignation of the diocesan bishop he is assisting. All coadjutor ordinaries eventually succeeded to become head of the Archdiocese of Dhaka or its antecedent jurisdictions. *

Timothy Joseph Crowley Timothy is a masculine name. It comes from the Greek language, Greek name (Timotheus (disambiguation), Timόtheos) meaning "honouring God", "in God's honour", or "honoured by God". Timothy (and its variations) is a common name in several countries ...

(1927–1929) *

(1965–1967) *

Patrick D’Rozario Patrick D'Rozario, CSC ( bn, প্যাট্রিক ডি'রোজারিও, translit=Pyaṭrik ḍi'rojario; born 1 October 1943) is a Bangladeshi prelate of the Catholic Church who was Archbishop of Dhaka from 2011 to 2020. He beca ...

(2010–2011)

Auxiliary Bishops

(1960–1965), appointed coadjutor of this archdiocese * Shorot Francis Gomes (2016–2021), appointed Bishop of Sylhet *

Theotonius Gomes Theotonius (c. 1082 - 1162) was a Canon Regular and royal advisor. He is noted in Portugal, for being the first prior of the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, Portugal. He is celebrated as the reformer of religious life in Portugal, and is ...

(1996–2014)

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 64,960 Catholics (0.3% of 23,539,280 total) on 12,000 km² in 18 parishes and 14 missions with 115 priests (42 diocesan, 73 religious), 695 lay religious (132 brothers, 563 sisters) and 17 seminarians.

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org with incumbent bio links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhaka, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Religious organizations established in 1850 Roman Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Bangladesh 1850 establishments in India Roman Catholic bishops of Dhaka