The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sindhudurg (''Dioecesis Sindhudurgiensis'') in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

was created on July 5, 2005, when it was split from the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Poona The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pune ( la, Poonen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Pune in the Ecclesiastical province of Mumbai in India. The Poona Diocee consists of the civil districts of Pune, Satara, Solapur, Sangli & Kolhapur city ...

. It was a suffragan diocese of the

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 ...

until 25 November 2006, when Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

transferred it to the newly established Metropolitan province of Goa and Damão. The parish church in

Sawantwadi Sawantwadi an aesthetic land of artists, is an integral part of the Konkan region which is in the mid-western coast of India. The western coast of India since 1510 A.D. has assumed great importance in Indian history and history of internationa ...

, 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, covering the districts

Sindhudurg Sindhudurg Fort (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is a historical fort that occupies an island in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Maharashtra in Western India. The fort was built by Shivaji Maharaj.The fortress lies on the sh ...

, Ratnagiri and

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

except the St. Francis Xavier parish in Kolhapur City. Neighboring dioceses are the

Archdiocese of Goa and Daman The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman ( la, Archidioecesis Goanae et Damanensis, gom, Gõy ani Damanv Mha-Dhormprant, pt, Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan r ...

to the south, the Diocese of Belgaum to the southeast, to the east the Diocese of Poona, to the north the

, and to the west is the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. The total population in the diocese is 5,365,706, of which 29,794 are Catholic. The diocese is divided into 19

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es. 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 1 ...

, 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