The Lord Jesus Church (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: ''Prabhu Jisur Girja'') is a Catholic church located at

Taltala Taltala (also spelt Taltola, archaic spelling Taltollah) is a neighbourhood in Central Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. One of the oldest neighbourhoods of the metropolis, it has a police station on its own name. ...

, a locality at the centre of the city of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

(Calcutta) in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Formerly a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

place of worship it was handed over to the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

in 1969, who made of it a centre of various apostolic activities.

History

A Scottish Presbyterian church

Alexander Duff, a

Scottish

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, arrived in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

at the beginning of the 19th century. Very active, he established the General Assembly's Institution in 1830, which is now known as the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

. In 1843, a serious

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

divided the

, which had consequences even in India. The Presbyterians split into two groups. A new ‘ Free Church of Scotland’ was born. In Calcutta the new ‘Free’ church built its place of worship at Wellesley Street. The two

churches reconciled and formed a new union in 1929, as a consequence of which the Wellesley street church lost its importance. In Calcutta, from 1942 on, the two religious congregations joined together in only one, choosing the St. Andrew's Church as their place of worship.

A Jesuit Church

In 1969 the Wellesley church and attached buildings are handed over to the

Jesuit fathers , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

who give it the Bengali name of ‘''Prabhu Jisur Girja''’ (Church of the Lord Jesus). The adjacent building became the fathers’ residence and a centre of pastoral activities in the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

(secretariat for

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

translations, Christian Life Movement’s office, 'Leadership training service', etc.). Over the years other pastoral works and institutions were established: a center of media and social communications, called ` Chitrabani', since 1973. A house of formation for young

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, since 1981.

Becoming a Catholic parish

In 2005 the vast

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

, which till then was technically a ‘public oratory’ is made a

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 or ...

of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, under the same title of `''Prabhu Jisur Girja. The greater part of religious services celebrated in the church are in the

History

A Scottish Presbyterian church

A Jesuit Church

Becoming a Catholic parish

See also