Archdiocese of Calcutta Archidioecesis Calcuttensis কলকাতার বিশপের এলাকা |
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Location | |
Country | India |
Ecclesiastical province | Calcutta |
Statistics | |
Area | 11,532 sq mi (29,870 km2) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2006) 31,152,686 145,246 (0.5%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 18 April 1834 |
Cathedral | Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary |
Patron saint | St Francis Xavier |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Thomas D’Souza |
Emeritus Bishops | Henry Sebastian D’Souza Archbishop Emeritus (1986-2002) Lucas Sirkar Archbishop Emeritus (2002-2012) |
Website | |
Website of the Archdiocese |
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta (Latin: Archidioecesis Calcuttensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in India.
The Archdiocese was originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Bengal in 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI, and renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Bengal in 1850 by Gregory's successor, Pope Pius IX.
On September 1, 1886, when the Catholic hierarchy was created in British India by Pope Leo XIII, the Vicariate was elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese and renamed as the “Archdiocese of Calcutta”.
Over the course of times the Archdiocese was frequently divided and new metropolitan provinces were created : Ranchi, Guwahati, and Patna. At the beginning of the 21st century, the metropolitan province of Calcutta covers only the state of West Bengal. The suffragan sees are : Asansol, Bagdogra, Baruipur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Krishnagar, and Raiganj.