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

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. The archdiocese's Marian mother church 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 se ...

, 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 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 ...

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Dinajpur * Roman Catholic 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. L ...

. On 2 February 2017, it lost as suffragans the newly created Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong 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 Kulna is a village in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County in northern Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from ...

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 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. 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 Pierre Dufal, C.S.C. (8 November 1822 – 14 March 1898) was a French-born bishop of the Catholic Church in Eastern Bengal and the United States. He served as the Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Bengal and as the Coadjutor Bishop of Galveston. He was ...

(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 Peter Joseph Hurth, C.S.C., S.T.D. (30 March 1857 – 1 August 1935) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, a diocesan bishop in British India and the Philippines, and a titular archbishop. Early years Peter Josep ...

(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 Lawrence Leo Graner, CSC (April 3, 1901 – April 21, 1982) was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka from July 15, 1950, to November 23, 1967. Archbishop Graner was a religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Biography Graner was bo ...

(1947–1950 ''see below'')

Archbishops of Dacca

Lawrence Leo Graner Lawrence Leo Graner, CSC (April 3, 1901 – April 21, 1982) was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka from July 15, 1950, to November 23, 1967. Archbishop Graner was a religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Biography Graner was bo ...

(''see above'' 1950–1967) * Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1967–1977)

Archbishops of Dhaka

* Michael Rozario (1977–2005) * Paulinus Costa (2005–2011) * Patrick D'Rozario (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 (1927–1929) * Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1965–1967) * Patrick D’Rozario (2010–2011)

Auxiliary Bishops

* Theotonius Amal Ganguly (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