The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajmer ( la, Aimeren(sis)) is a

suffragan 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 jurisdictiona ...

Latin diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Agra in northwestern India, yet 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 ...

. Its cathedral episcopal see is Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Ajmer, Rajasthan state.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 9,980 Catholics (0.0% of 22,073,000 total) on 146,690 km² in 10 parishes and 25 missions with 60 priests (40 diocesan, 20 religious), 479 lay religious (27 brothers, 452 sisters) and 18 seminarians.

History

* Established in 1890 as

Mission “sui iuris” A mission '' sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, ranki ...

Rajputana Rājputana, meaning "Land of the Rajputs", was a region in the Indian subcontinent that included mainly the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan, as well as parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and some adjoining areas of Sindh in modern-day ...

, on colonial territory split off from its Metropolitan, the

Archdiocese of Agra The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra ( la, Agraën(sis)) is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state. It comproses the following districts in Uttar Pradesh: Agra, Aligarh, Auraiya, Budaun, Bulandshahr, Etah, E ...

* Promoted in 1891 as Apostolic Vicariate of Rajputana. At this date the district had only one mission station, Jaipur. Besides this, a Catholic priest resided at Ajmer in charge of a small community of Eurasians and Goans, and there were also stations for troops at Nasirabad, Neemuch, and Mhow, served by three military chaplains. After the arrival of French Capuchins, other stations were established at Ratlam, Thandla, Mariapur, Jhabua, Jhalrapatan, Parbatpura, and Bhawanikhera. The prefects were Father Bertram, 1892–1902, and Father Fortunatus, from 1903. * 22 May 1913: Promoted as Diocese of Ajmer * Lost territory on 1935.03.11 to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Indore * Renamed on 13 May 1955 as Diocese of Ajmer–Jaipur * Lost territories repeatedly : on 1963.09.13 to establish the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bhopal, on 1973.04.03 to the Apostolic Exarchate of Sagar and on 1984.12.03 to establish the

Diocese of Udaipur The Roman Catholic Diocese of Udaipur ( la, Udaipuren(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Udaipur in the Ecclesiastical province of Agra in India. History * 3 December 1984: Established as Diocese of Udaipur from the Diocese of Ajmer� ...

* Renamed on 20 July 2005 as Diocese of Ajmer Diocese of Ajmer-Jaipur comprised twenty four districts, namely Ajmer,

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...

, Baran, Barmer, Bikaner, Bundi, Churu, Dausa, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jaisalmer,

Jalore Jalore () (ISO 15919 : ''Jālora'' ), also known as ''Granite City'', is a city in the western Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Jalore District. It has a river known as Jawai Nadi. Jalore lies to south of Su ...

Jhalawar Jhalawar () is a city, municipal council and headquarter in Jhalawar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located in the southeastern part of the state. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the admin ...

Jhunjhunu Jhunjhunu is a city and capital of Jhunjhunu district in the state of Rajasthan. This city is in the northern state of Rajasthan, India and the administrative headquarters of Jhunjhunu District. History Jhunjhunu is a very old and historical ...

, Jodhpur, Karauli, Kota,

Nagaur Nagaur is a city and municipal council in Nagaur district of the state of Rajasthan in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Nagaur District. The Nagaur city lies about midway between Jodhpur and Bikaner. Nagaur is famous for spices ...

, Pali, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Sirohi,

Sri Ganganagar Sri Ganganagar is a planned city and the northernmost city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, near the international border of India and Pakistan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sri Ganganagar district. It is named after Maharaja Shri ...

and Tonk in the state of Rajasthan. In July, 1890 the Holy See detached a very large portion of the

to form a new unit, the Rajasthan mission entrusting it to the Capuchin Fathers of the Paris Province who were to work under the supervision of the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. In December, 1891, the new mission became the Prefecture Apostolic of Rajputana and in 1913, the then Prefect Rt. Rev. Fortunatus Henry Caumont

O.F.M. Cap. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

was appointed the first bishop of Ajmer. On 11 March 1935, parts of the diocese which were in the state of Madhya Pradesh were detached to become part of the then newly erected Prefecture Apostolic of Indore.

Ordinaries

( Latin Rite) ;''Ecclesiastical Superior?s of Rajputana'' : no data available ;''Apostolic Vicar?s of Rajputana'' : no data available ;''Suffragan Bishops of Ajmer'' * Fortunat-Henri Caumont, Capuchin Franciscans (O.F.M. Cap.) (born France) (22 May 1913 – death 4 April 1930) * Mathurin-Pie Le Ruyet, O.F.M. Cap. (born France) (8 June 1931 – retired 4 July 1938), emeritate as Titular Bishop of

Alexandria minor Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

(1938.07.04 – 1961.06.09) * Guy-Léandre Le Floch,

(born France) (13 June 1939 – death 9 August 1946) * D’Mello (first born India) (21 April 1949 – 13 May 1955 ''see below'') ;''Suffragan Bishop of Ajmer-Jaipur'' * D’Mello (''see above'' 13 May 1955 – retired 15 November 1978), died 1987 ;''Suffragan Bishops of Ajmer'' * Ignatius Menezes (born India) (15 November 1978 – retired 3 November 2012), later Apostolic Administrator of Diocese of Allahabad (India) (2013.01.31 – 2013.10.17) * Pius Thomas D'Souza (born India) (3 November 2012 – ... ), no previous prelature

Causes for canonisation

* Servant of God Fortunat-Henri Caumont, Capuchin Franciscans (O.F.M. Cap.), first prelate of the diocese of Ajmer

References

Sources and external links