Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka

Roman Catholic archdiocese in Bangladesh

Archdiocese of Dhaka

Archidioecesis Dhakensis

ঢাকা মহাধর্মপ্রদেশ

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Dhaka

Location
Country|  Bangladesh
Ecclesiastical province| Dhaka
Statistics
Area| 14,193 km2 (5,480 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics| (as of 2013)
23,339,945
62,780 (0.3%)
Parishes| 18
Information
Denomination| Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church| Latin Church
Rite| Roman Rite
Established| 19 October 1982 (as Archdiocese of Dhaka)
Cathedral| St. Mary's Cathedral, Dhaka
Patron saint| Immaculate Conception
Secular priests| 125
Current leadership
Pope| Francis
Archbishop| Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze
Suffragans| Diocese of Dinajpur
Diocese of Mymensingh
Diocese of Rajshahi
Diocese of Sylhet
Bishops emeritus| Patrick D'Rozario

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka (Latin: Archidioecesis Dhakensis)[1] is the Latin, main Metropolitan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bangladesh, but no longer the only one. It still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The archdiocese's Marian mother church and thus seat of its archbishop is St. Mary's Cathedral in the national capital Dhaka. As senior Metropolitan in Bangladesh, it is the principal episcopal see of that country. As of 2020[update] the Archbishop of Dhaka is Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze, formerly Bishop of Sylhet, having been appointed by Pope Francis in September 2020.

## Ecclesiastical province

[edit]

Its ecclesiastical province still has as suffragan sees

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Dinajpur
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Mymensingh
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Rajshahi
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Sylhet.

On 2 February 2017, it lost as suffragans the newly created Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chittagong and both its suffragan sees: Barisal and Kulna.

## History

[edit]

It was erected it as the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Bengal by Pope Pius IX on 12 February 1850.[1]

It was promoted as Diocese of Eastern Bengal on 1 September 1886,[1] and renamed as the Diocese of Dacca after its see in 1887.[1]

On 25 May 1927 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Chittagong, as its suffragan, but since 2017 itself a Metropolitan.

It was elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dacca by Pope Pius XII on 15 July 1950,[1]

On 17 January 1952 it lost territory to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Haflong.

It enjoyed its papal visit, from Pope Paul VI, in November 1970.

Pope John Paul II renamed it as the Archdiocese of Dhaka on 19 October 1982.[2]

It enjoyed a second papal visit from Pope John Paul II in November 1986.

It lost territory on 15 May 1987 to establish the Diocese of Mymensingh and on 8 July 2011 again to establish the Diocese of Sylhet, as its suffragans.

## Leadership

[edit]

### Ordinaries

[edit]

Main article: List of Roman Catholic archbishops of Dhaka

Below is a list of individuals who have led the Archdiocese of Dhaka and its antecedent jurisdictions since its founding.

#### Apostolic Vicars of Eastern Bengal

[edit]

* Thomas Oliffe (1850–1855), appointed Apostolic Vicar of Western Bengal
* Fr. Louis Verité (1855–1860), as Pro-Apostolic Vicar
* Pierre Dufal (1860–1876), resigned; in 1878, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Galveston, U.S.
* Giordano Ballsieper (1878–1886)

#### Bishops of Dhaka

[edit]

* Augustin Louage (1890–1894)
* Peter Joseph Hurth (1894–1909), appointed Bishop of Nueva Segovia, Philippines
* Frederick Linneborn (1909 –1915)
* Amand-Théophile-Joseph Legrand (1916–1929)
* Timothy Joseph Crowley (1929–1945)
* Lawrence Leo Graner (1947–1950 see below)

#### Archbishops of Dacca

[edit]

* Lawrence Leo Graner (see above 1950–1967)
* Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1967–1977)

#### Archbishops of Dhaka

[edit]

* Michael Rozario (1977–2005)
* Paulinus Costa (2005–2011)
* Patrick D'Rozario (2011–2020)
* Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze (2020–present)

### Coadjutor bishops

[edit]

Under the Code of Canon Law, the coadjutor bishop has the right of succession (cum jure successionis) upon the death, retirement or resignation of the diocesan bishop he is assisting.[3][4][5] All coadjutor ordinaries eventually succeeded to become head of the Archdiocese of Dhaka or its antecedent jurisdictions.

* Timothy Joseph Crowley (1927–1929)
* Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1965–1967)
* Patrick D’Rozario (2010–2011)

### Auxiliary Bishops

[edit]

* Theotonius Amal Ganguly (1960–1965), appointed coadjutor of this archdiocese
* Shorot Francis Gomes (2016–2021), appointed Bishop of Sylhet
* Theotonius Gomes (1996–2014)
* Subroto Boniface Gomes (2024-,

## Statistics

[edit]

As per 2014, it pastorally served 64,960 Catholics (0.3% of 23,539,280 total) on 12,000 km2 in 18 parishes and 14 missions with 115 priests (42 diocesan, 73 religious), 695 lay religious (132 brothers, 563 sisters) and 17 seminarians.

Year  | Catholics  | Diocesan priest  | Parishes

|
|
|

2000 | 70,821 | 42 | 19
2015 | 62,780 | 52 | 18

## See also

[edit]

* Archbishop's House, Ramna Thana
* Roman Catholicism in Bangladesh
* List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "Archdiocese of Dhaka". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
2. ^ Dhaka (Archdiocese) in Catholic Hierarchy
3. ^ "Code of Canon Law – Book II, Part II, Section II, Title I". Holy See Press Office. Holy See. 25 January 1983. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
4. ^ Van Hove, A. (1913). "Bishop". In Charles George Herbermann (ed.). The Original Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2\. Robert Appleton Company. p. 581\. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
5. ^ Agnew, Paddy; McGarry, Patsy (5 May 2012). "Vatican may appoint bishop to aid Brady". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

## Sources and external links

[edit]

* GCatholic.org with incumbent bio links
* Catholic-Hierarchy

* v
* t
* e

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka

Ordinaries|

Apostolic vicars
Thomas Oliffe
Louis Verité
Pierre Dufal
Jordan Ballsieper

Bishops
Augustine Joseph Louage
Peter Joseph Hurth
Frederick Linneborn
Amand-Théophile-Joseph Legrand
Timothy Joseph Crowley
Lawrence Leo Graner

Archbishops
Lawrence Leo Graner
Theotonius Amal Ganguly
Michael Rozario
Paulinus Costa
Patrick D'Rozario‡
Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze

Auxiliary bishops
Theotonius Gomes (1996–2014)
Shorot Francis Gomes (2016–present)

Cathedral|

St. Mary's Cathedral, Dhaka

Education|

University
Notre Dame University Bangladesh

Colleges
Notre Dame College, Dhaka
Holy Cross College, Dhaka
Archbishop T.A Ganguly Teachers' Training College

Schools
St Gregory's High School
St. Francis Xavier's Girls' High School
St Joseph Higher Secondary School, Dhaka
St Francis Xavier's Green Herald International School
Holy Cross Girls' High School (Dhaka)
Bottomley Home Girls' High School
St Joseph's High School (Savar)
Panjora Girls' High School
Saint Nicholas High School
Toomilia Boys' High School
St. Mary's Girls' High School
Rangamatia High School
Mathbari Girls' High School
St. Thecla's Girls' High School
Bandura Holy Cross High School
St. Euphrasie's Girls' High School
Tuital Girls' High School
Our Lady of Fatima Girls High School, Comilla

* Catholicism portal
* Bangladesh portal

* v
* t
* e

Catholic dioceses in Bangladesh

Province of Dhaka|

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dhaka
Diocese of Dinajpur
Diocese of Mymensingh
Diocese of Rajshahi
Diocese of Sylhet

Province of Chittagong|

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chittagong
Diocese of Barisal
Diocese of Khulna

* Catholicism portal

Authority control databases |

* ISNI

|

23°44′13″N 90°24′19″E﻿ / ﻿23.7369°N 90.4052°E﻿ / 23.7369; 90.4052
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