The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jowai ( la, Iovaien(sis)) is a

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 ...

located in the town of

Jowai Jowai (IPA: ʤəʊˈwaɪ) is the headquarters of the West Jaintia Hills district of the state of Meghalaya, India, and is home to the Pnar people, Pnar, a sub-tribe of the Khasi people. It is located on a plateau surrounded on three sides by the ...

in the

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 ...

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

in India. In a land area of 3,819 square kilometers, the diocesan territory covers the districts of East and West Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.

History

The Diocese of Jowai was erected on January 28, 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI, and Father Vincent Kympat was appointed its first bishop. He was ordained on April 2, 2006 by the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana.

Statistics

When the new diocese of Jowai was erected in the year 2006, it had 59,095 baptized Catholics in the territory which covers Jaintia hills district under 7 parishes. The diocese have steadily been growing through the years and in 2019 the population of Catholics in the territory have grown to 106,027 under 17 parishes.

Leadership

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s of Jowai (

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 ...

) ** Bishop Vincent Kympat (January 28, 2006 – July 30, 2011) Bishop Vincent Kympat was born December 17, 1946 in Moosutong in Shillong Diocese. He was ordained a priest on January 23, 1977 in the diocese of Shillong. He was appointed Bishop of Jowai on January 28, 2006 and was ordained on April 2, 2006. Before becoming a prelate Bishop Kympat was the chairman of Faith Formation Commission and Diocesan Coordinator for Small Christian Communities in the Archdiocese of Shillong. He was the Chairman of Small Christian Communities Commission in North Eastern Regional Bishops' Council of India before he died on July 30, 2011.

References

External links

GCatholic.org

Catholic Hierarchy
Roman Catholic dioceses in India Christianity in Meghalaya Christian organizations established in 2006 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 21st century 2006 establishments in Meghalaya {{India-RC-diocese-stub