The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad ( la, Ahmedabaden(sis)) is a

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

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 ...

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 ...

in the Gujarati

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 ...

of the Metropolitan of

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...

, yet depends on the Roman

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

. Its (Marian) cathedral episcopal see is (Our Lady of) Mount Carmel Cathedral, in the city of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

state, western India.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 71,800 Catholics (0.7% of 10,274,000 total) on 14,791 km² in 45 parishes and 2 missions with 164 priests (89 diocesan, 90 religious), 455 lay religious (130 brothers, 325 sisters) and 11 seminarians.

History

* Established in 1934 as Mission ''sui iuris'' of Ahmedabad from the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Bombay The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolitan see since ...

* Elevated on 5 May 1949 as Diocese of Ahmedabad / Ahmedabadensis (Latin adjective) * Lost territory on 26 February 1977 to establish the Diocese of Rajkot * Lost territory on 11 October 2002 to establish the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, which became its Metropolitan.

Prelates

;Ecclesiastical superior of Ahmedabad * Fr. Joaquin Vilallonga, SJ ;Bishops of Ahmedabad (all

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

, native Indians except the first) * Edwin Pinto,

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(Jesuits, S.J.) (born 1901 in present

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, then also

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

) (5 May 1949 – retired 1973), died 1978 * Charles Gomes, S.J. (1 July 1974 – 21 May 1990), died 2002 *

Stanislaus Fernandes Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, S.J. (21 May 1990 – 11 November 2002), next Metropolitan Archbishop of

(India) (11 October 2002 – 12 June 2015),

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

''sede plena'' of Diocese of Baroda (Gujarat, India) (23 May 2016 – ...) * Thomas Ignatius MacWan (11 November 2002 – 12 June 2015), next Metropolitan Archbishop of above Gandhinagar (12 June 2015 – ...) * Athanasius Rethna Swamy Swamiadian (29 January 2018 – ...).

References

External links

GCatholic.org, with Google HQ satellite picture - data for all sections

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmedabad, Roman Catholic diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India

Religious organizations established in 1949 Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tra ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1949 establishments in India

Christianity in Gujarat Christianity is professed by 0.5% of the population of the state of Gujarat in India. History The French or Catalan Dominican missionary Jordanus Catalani was the first European to start conversion in Gujarat region. He arrived in Surat in 1 ...

Culture of Ahmedabad According to the 2011 national census, the population of Ahmedabad was declared to be 7,214,225. This figure was only limited to the municipality region. The total population of the Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration (which also includes the region g ...

Organisations based in Ahmedabad An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...