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Archdiocese of Dhaka

*Archidioecesis Dhakensis*

ঢাকা মহাধর্মপ্রদেশ
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

Its ecclesiastical province still has as suffragan sees

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

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

Ordinaries

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

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

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

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

Archbishops of Dhaka

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

Coadjutor bishops

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

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

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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Archdiocese of Dhaka". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
^ Dhaka (Archdiocese) in Catholic Hierarchy
^ "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.
^ 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.
^ 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.