Roman Catholic Diocese of Chittagong
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chittagong is a diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 located in the city of Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

 in the Ecclesiastical province
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...

 of Dhaka
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dhaka is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bangladesh. It was erected it as the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Bengal by Pope Pius IX in 1850, promoted to the rank of a diocese on September 1, 1886, and renamed as...

 in Bangladesh. The Diocese of Chittagong comprises of the 17 Civil Districts of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati, Khagrachori, Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur, Bhola, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Barisal, Jhalakathi, Borguna, Gopalganj, Madaripur and Shariatpur.

History

The early history of the Church goes back to 1537 A.D. when there were Catholics in the Portuguese settlements in areas that now form part of the Diocese of Chittagong. The first Churches were set up in 1600 in what now forms Diang and the city of Chittagong.
Father Francesco Fernandez, SJ, who came to Chittagong in 1598, and who was blinded and tortured and died in captivity on November 14, 1602, is the Bengal's first martyr. In 1845 Chittagong became the seat of the first Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Bengal, and later the administration was transferred to Dhaka. Noakhali was also the first place to have the Holy Cross missionaries who arrived there in June, 1853.
The Diocese of Chittagong was canonically erected on May 25, 1927, taking away a good half of the territory that comprised the then Diocese of Dhaka. The Diocese then comprising Chittagong, Noakhali, Barisal, Gournadi, Narikelbari, Haflong, Badarpur, Akyab, Sandoway, Gyeithaw and Chaugtha. Akyab, Sandoway, etc. was handed over to the La Salette Fathers in the Diocese of Akyab in 1937-38.
The newly erected Diocese of Chittagong in 1927 was entrusted to the care of the Canadian Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross. When the new ecclesiastical province of Dhaka was created in July, 1950, Chittagong became a sufragan of Dhaka. Later in 1952, portions of the Diocese of Chittagong that were situated in Assam (India) were detached to form a separate ecclesiastical unit, called the Prefecture of Haflong, and later the Diocese of Silchar which is called now the Diocese of Agartola and the Diocese of Aijwal.

Leadership

  • Bishop
    Bishop
    A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

    s of Chittagong (Roman rite)
    • Bishop Moses Costa (since April 6, 2011)
    • Bishop Patrick D’Rozario, C.S.C. (February 3, 1995 – November 25, 2010); named Coadjutor Archbishop of Dhaka
      Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka
      The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dhaka is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bangladesh. It was erected it as the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Bengal by Pope Pius IX in 1850, promoted to the rank of a diocese on September 1, 1886, and renamed as...

       by Pope Benedict XVI
      Pope Benedict XVI
      Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

    • Bishop Joachim J. Rozario, C.S.C. (August 3, 1968 – June 30, 1994)
    • Bishop Raymond Larose, C.S.C. (March 20, 1952 – August 3, 1968)
    • Bishop Alfredo Le Pailleur, C.S.C. (June 18, 1927 – 1952)
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK