The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nagpur ( la, Nagpuren(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 ...

Metropolitan archdiocese in central India, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

episcopal see is

St. Francis de Sales Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...

Cathedral, in the city of

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

, in Maharashtra state.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 25,500 Catholics (0.2% of 12,360,000 total) on 59,042 km² in 34 parishes and 12 missions with 142 priests (48 diocesan, 94 religious), 798 lay religious (265 brothers, 533 sisters) and 23 seminarians.

History

* Established on July 11, 1887, as Diocese of Nagpur, on territory split off from the

Diocese of Vizagapatam The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam/Vizag/Vishakhapatnam ( la, Visakhapatnamen(sis)) is an archdiocese located in the city of Visakhapatnam in India. History * 16 March 1845: Established as the Apostolic Pro-Vicariate of Vizagapat ...

. * It lost territories repeatedly : on 1932.07.18 to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Jubbulpore, on 1935.03.11 to establish the then Apostolic Prefecture of Indore, on 1951.06.14 to establish the Diocese of Sambalpur and on 1951.12.13 to establish the then

Diocese of Raigarh–Ambikapur The Roman Catholic Diocese of Raigarh ( la, Raigarhen(sis)) is a diocese located at the Bishop's House in Kunkuri, Raigarh. It is in the Ecclesiastical province of Raipur in India. History On 13 December 1951, it was established as Diocese of ...

* Promoted on September 19, 1953, as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nagpur. * Lost more territories thrice again : on 1955.05.08 to establish its suffragan Diocese of Amravati, on 1964.01.16 to establish the then

Apostolic Prefecture of Raipur Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

and ''on 1968.07.29 to establish the then Apostolic Exarchate of Chanda (now also a suffragan diocese of Nagpur)''

Ecclesiastical province

Its

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

comprises the Metropolitan's own archbishopric and these Suffragan bishoprics,

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 ...

''except one Syro-Oriental Rite'': *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Amravati The Roman Catholic Diocese of Amravati ( la, Amravaten(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Amravati in the Ecclesiastical province of Nagpur in India. History * 8 May 1955: Established as Diocese of Amravati from the Metropolitan Archdi ...

, its daughter *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Aurangabad The Roman Catholic Diocese of Aurangabad ( la, Aurangabaden(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Aurangabad in the ecclesiastical province of Nagpur in India. History On the 17 of December, 1977 Paul VI promulged the papal bull ''Qui a ...

* '' Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chanda, its only

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

daughter''

Episcopal ordinaries

''(all

, initially missionary members of a Latin congregation)'' :''Suffragan Bishops of Nagpur'' * Charles-Félix Pelvat,

Fransalians The Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS), also known as the Fransalians, was founded in Annecy, France on 24 October 1838 by Fr. Peter Mermier under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales. The political disturbances in the country, especial ...

(M.S.F.S.) (born France) (October 2, 1893 – death July 23, 1900) * Jean-Marie Crochet (born France) (October 25, 1900 – death June 6, 1903) * Etienne-Marie Bonaventure, M.S.F.S. (born France) (September 17, 1904 – death March 12, 1907) * François-Etienne Coppel, M.S.F.S. (born France) (June 22, 1907 – death March 16, 1933) * Louis-François Gayet, M.S.F.S. (born France) (February 1, 1934 – death August 26, 1950) * Eugene D’Souza, M.S.F.S. (first Indian incumbent) (July 12, 1951 – September 19, 1953 ''see below'') ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Nagpur'' *

Eugene D’Souza Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, M.S.F.S. (''see above'' September 19, 1953 – September 13, 1963), later Metropolitan Archbishop of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

(India) (1963.09.13 – death 1994.03.26) *

Leonard Joseph Raymond Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

(January 16, 1964 – death February 1, 1974) (born Pakistan), previously Bishop of Allahabad (India) (1947.04.10 – 1964.01.16) * Leobard D’Souza (July 1, 1975 – retired January 17, 1998), also vice-president of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (1988–1991); previously

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of Caput Cilla (1964.11.12 – 1965.12.17) & Coadjutor Bishop of Jabalpur (India) (1964.11.12 – 1965.12.17), succeeding as Bishop of

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

(1965.12.17 – 1975.07.01) ** Auxiliary Bishop: Sylvester Monteiro (1993.12.06 – 1999.02.09),

Scampa Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Al ...

(1993.12.06 – 1999.02.09); next Bishop of suffragan

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

(India) (1999.02.09 – death 2005.08.14) *

Abraham Viruthakulangara Abraham Viruthakulangara was an Indian archbishop of Nagpur. He was also the President of the Maharashtra Regional Bishops' Conference. Early life Abraham was born on 5 June 1943 in Kerala, India. He completed his Major studies from St. Charl ...

(January 17, 1998 – April 19, 2018), previously Bishop of

Khandwa Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District. Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line conn ...

(India) (1977.03.04 – 1998.01.17). *Elias Joseph Gonsalves – 2018.12.03 – present

Saints and causes for canonisation

* Servant of God Sr. Marie Gertrude Gros, SMMI

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links – data for all sections

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagpur, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India Organisations based in Nagpur

Christianity in Maharashtra Christianity is a minority religion in Maharashtra, a state of India. 79.8% of the population of Maharashtra are Hinduism, Hindus, Christian adherents being 1.0% of the population. The Roman Catholic archdiocese whose seat is in Maharashtra is Ro ...

Religious organizations established in 1887 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 19th century

1887 establishments in India Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl ...