The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sindhudurg (''Dioecesis Sindhudurgiensis'') in
India was created on July 5, 2005, when it was split from the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Poona. It was a suffragan diocese of the
Archdiocese of Bombay until 25 November 2006, when Pope
Benedict XVI transferred it to the newly established Metropolitan province of
Goa and Damão. The parish church in
Sawantwadi, dedicated to Our Lady of Miracles, serves as the cathedral for the diocese.
The diocese covers an area of 21,099 km² of the state
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
, covering the districts
Sindhudurg,
Ratnagiri
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...
and
Kolhapur except the St. Francis Xavier parish in Kolhapur City. Neighboring dioceses are the
Archdiocese of Goa and Daman to the south, the
Diocese of Belgaum
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Belgaum ( la, Belgaumen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Belgaum in the ecclesiastical province of Bangalore in India.
History
The Belgaum Diocese was erected on 19 September 1953 by the papal bull ''Su ...
to the southeast, to the east the Diocese of Poona, to the north the
Archdiocese of Bombay, and to the west is the
Arabian Sea.
The total population in the diocese is 5,365,706, of which 29,794 are Catholic. The diocese is divided into 19
parishes.
Bishop
Anthony Alwyn Fernandes Barreto
Bishop Anthony Alwyn Fernandes Barreto (born 22 December 1952) is the serving bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sindhudurg.
Early life
Barreto was born in Goa on 22 December 1952.
Priesthood
Barreto was ordained a Catholic priest on 13 ...
, is the first Bishop of the Diocese and has served all his life for the Diocese. He comes from an aristocratic family from Velsao Goa which has been knighted by the King of Portugal during the Portuguese rule.
In 2015, a true witness of Bishop Alwyn, from London, stated that, Bishop Alwyn is 'A man of our time' 'Simple person' and He is widely known as a 'Smiling Bishop'.
Its stated that Bishop Alwyn has put every penny from his side to the Diocese of Sindhudurgh, the share that he had received from his ancestry has been put in the Diocese to purchase land for the benefit of building schools.
External links
GCatholic.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sindhudurg
Roman Catholic dioceses in India
Christianity in Maharashtra
Christian organizations established in 2005
Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 21st century
2005 establishments in Maharashtra