The Roman Catholic Diocese of Simla and Chandigarh ( la, Simlen(sis) et Chandigarhen(sis)) is a

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associa ...

located in the cities of

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, th ...

and

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

in the

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 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in India.

History

* 4 June 1959: Established as Diocese of Simla from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Delhi and Simla * 12 May 1964: Renamed as Diocese of Simla and Chandigarh

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 c ...

s of Simla and Chandigarh (

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 Ignatius Loyola Mascarenhas (10 February 2009 – present) ** Bishop Gerald John Mathias (22 December 1999 – 8 November 2007) ** Bishop

Gilbert Blaize Rego Gilbert Blaize Rego (3 September 1921 – 21 June 2012) was an Indian Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained as a priest at 32 years of age in 1953, and he served for 18 years before being ordained as a bishop of the Roman C ...

(11 March 1971 – 10 November 1999) ** Bishop Alfred Fernández (13 April 1967 – 25 June 1970) ** Archbishop Joseph Alexander Fernandes (Apostolic Administrator 1966 – 13 April 1967) ** Bishop John Burke (12 May 1964 – 3 August 1966) * Bishops of Simla (Latin Rite) ** Bishop John Burke (4 June 1959 – 12 May 1964)

References

GCatholic.org

Website of the diocese

History

Leadership

References

See also