The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta ( la, Archidioecesis Calcuttensis) is an ecclesiastical

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

territory of the

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

History

The archdiocese was originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI, and renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Bengal in 1850 by Gregory's successor,

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 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 Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

and

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. , the metropolitan province of Calcutta covers the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. The

suffragan sees A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

are:

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bar ...

Bagdogra Bagdogra is a settlement in the Naxalbari CD block in the Siliguri subdivision of the Darjeeling district, in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the Greater Siliguri Metropolitan Area. The Bagdogra is well connected by air to six ...

Baruipur Baruipur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). It is the headquarters of the Baruipur su ...

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...

Krishnagar Krishnanagar (; also spelled Krishnagar) is a city and a municipality. in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Nadia district. History Krishnanagar municipality was established in 1864 and is one of the oldest municipali ...

and

Raiganj Raiganj () is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district. The police station was set up 125 years ago and railway connectivity reached the place 115 years ago. The city h ...

. The archdiocese's

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, the seat of its archbishop, is the

Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary (Commonly known as the Portuguese Church) 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. The cath ...

, commonly called the "Portuguese Church". Calcutta also houses the oldest Catholic church in the area, the Basilica of the Holy Rosary, in

Bandel Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Me ...

- a former Portuguese settlement - some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The current archbishop of Calcutta is

Thomas D'Souza Archbishop Thomas D'Souza is a serving Archbishop of Calcutta and member of the Commission for Education of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. Early life He was born in Adyarpadav - Mangalore, Karnataka on 26 Aug 1950. He was baptis ...

, having been appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 23 February 2012.(en) "Thomas D’Souza becomes Archbishop of Calcutta"
Vatican Radio
23 February 2012

Territory

The archdiocese of Calcutta currently covers the Districts of

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced af ...

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...

, Hooghly,

, Paschim Medinipur,

Purba Medinipur Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative d ...

and

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

in the state of

List of Ordinaries of Calcutta

Apostolic vicars of Bengal

* 1834 - 1838 : Robert Saint–Leger * 1838 - 1840 : Jean-Louis Taberd * 1840 - 1850 :

Patrick Joseph Carew Most Rev. Patrick Joseph Carew (1800 – 2 November 1855) was the Vicar Apostolic of Western Bengal."Past and Present Ordinaries"
Archdiocese of Calcutta, ''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved 2 February 2012

* 1850 - 1855 : Patrick Joseph Carew * 1855 - 1859 : Marc-Thomas Olliffe * 1858 - 1864 : ''Sede vacante'' (''Auguste Goiran, Administrator'') * 1864 - 1865 : Augustus van Heule * 1865 - 1867 : ''Sede vacante'' (''Honoré van der Stuyft,'' ''Administrator'') * 1867 - 1877 : Walter Herman Jacobus Steins * 1877 - 1886 : Paul François Marie Goethals

Archbishops of Calcutta

* 1886 - 1901 : Paul François Marie Goethals * 1902 - 1924 : Brice Meuleman * 1924 - 1960 :

Ferdinand Perier Ferdinand Perier, SJ (22 September 1875, Antwerp, Belgium – 10 November 1968, Calcutta, India), was a Belgian Jesuit priest, a missionary in British India, and the third Archbishop of Calcutta (now Kolkata). Early years Fernandus Augustus ...

* 1960 - 1962 : Vivian Anthony Dyer * 1962 - 1969 : Albert Vincent D'Souza * 1969 - 1986 : Lawrence Trevor Cardinal Picachy * 1986 - 2002 :

Henry Sebastian D'Souza Henry Sebastian D'Souza (20 January 1926 – 27 June 2016) was an Indian Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Igatpuri, D'Souza was ordained priest in 1948. He became Bishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar in 1974 and was named coadjutor Archbishop of Calcutta ...

* 2002 - 2012 :

Lucas Sirkar Lucas Sirkar, SDB (24 September 1936 – 18 April 2021) 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 C ...

* 2012 - Pres :

Saints and causes for canonisation

* St.

Teresa of Calcutta Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...

lived and served in Calcutta.

References

External links

Archdiocese of Calcutta
* {{authority control Christianity in Kolkata

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

1834 establishments in India