The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

celebrating the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

of worship, centred in the

Bombay (Mumbai) Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the seco ...

city of the northern Konkan division of

Maharashtra, India Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdivi ...

. The

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

has been a

Metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

since its elevation, by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

on 1 September 1886. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

of the

Episcopal See An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

is the

Cathedral of the Holy Name (Bombay) The Cathedral of the Holy Name or Holy Name Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), that has the seat and is the headquarters of the Archbishop of Bombay. The cathedral is located in the Colaba area of S ...

. It also administers an important

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

, the Mount St Mary Church, in

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre ( �aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate north of River Mithi, which separates B ...

suburb of Bombay. As of 2006, the archdiocese had 277 diocesan priests, 283 religious priests, 383 male

religious brother A religious brother is a member of a Christian religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life of the Church, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is a layman, in the sens ...

s and 1,530 religious sisters. The archdiocese serves a total of 506,976

Indian Catholics The East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or Bombay East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan Division. Histo ...

in 121

parishes 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 ...

all across the

Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area Mumbai Metropolitan Region (abbreviated to MMR and previously also as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai (Bombay) and its satellite towns in the northern Konkan division, of the Maharashtra state in we ...

. The current

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

Oswald Gracias Oswald Gracias (born 24 December 1944) is an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed Latin Church Archbishop of Bombay by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 October 2006 and was raised to the cardinalate in 2007. In 2008, he becam ...

, who was appointed on 14 October 2006, by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

History

The Portuguese first reached the west coast of

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 ...

when

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

landed at

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second ...

in 1498. They finally established themselves at Velha Goa in 1510. In 1526 they established a factory in Bassein. In 1534, the islands of Bassein, Salsette,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

and Karanja were ceded to the Portuguese by Bahadur Shah of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. In this very year, the

Primate of the East Indies The Titular Patriarch of the East Indies ( la, Patriarcha Indiarum Orientalium; for Titular Patriarchate of the East Indies) in the Catholic hierarchy is the title of the Archbishop of Goa and Daman in India; another of his titles is the Prim ...

seated at Goa, was created and the whole of the northern

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

region what was then Portuguese Bombay and Bassein, today better known as

formed part of that archdiocese. Missionary activities in Bassein (Burma), Salsette and Bombay commenced from 1534 onwards, thus laying the foundation for the future Archdiocese of Bombay. The Portuguese missionaries who accompanied the conquerors were the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

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

, Dominicans and

Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

. In 1637, the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Idalcan, also called Bijapur or

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

, on vast territory split off from the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa. In 1665, the Bombay Island was ceded to the British as a part of the marriage dowry to

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child o ...

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. In 1669 the pre-diocesan jurisdiction was renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Great Mogul, exceptionally after the imperial Muslim prince above the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

s of Hind(ustan). The year 1692 marked an end to the Jesuit presence in Bombay. The Decree expelling the Portuguese Franciscans from Bombay was issued by the British on 24 May 1720. On 17 May 1784 it lost huge territory to establish the Mission sui juris of Hindustan, nucleus of the Archbishopric of Agra. Later, the British allowed the Italian

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount C ...

to take charge of the Catholic community in Bombay. In 1794 the double jurisdiction was devised by the British, which let them interfere in the religious life of the Catholics. In 1820 it was renamed after its see to Apostolic Vicariate of Bombay. Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias

On 12 December 1853 the Carmelites asked to be relieved of the administration of the Bombay Mission. The Holy See accepted their resignation and thus ended, after a period of 133 years (1720–1853), the Carmelite administration of the Vicariate of Bombay. On 16 February 1854 the

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

officially divided the Bombay Vicariate into the northern Vicariate of Bombay, entrusted the Bombay Vicariate to the Capuchin Fathers (comprising the islands of

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbh ...

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

, Khandesh,

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also sy ...

and

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

as far as

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

and

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

) and the newly established southern Apostolic Vicariate of Poona (comprising the islands of Salsette and Bassein, and the regions of the

and

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural i ...

), entrusted to the

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

Fathers. Finally, the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay was established by

on 1 September 1886. The archdiocese received territorial jurisdiction over Bombay Island and over the northern districts of the Vicariate of Bombay with

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

as a suffragan diocese.

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

and

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

were added as suffragan sees in 1893, in which year the First Provincial Council was held (Acta et Decreta, Bombay, 1898). It lost further territory repeatedly: on 20 May 1948 to establish the Diocese of Karachi (in Pakistan), on 5 May 1949 to establish the Diocese of Ahmedabad, on 29 September 1966 to establish the Diocese of Baroda, in April 1988 to establish the Diocese of Kalyan and on 22 May 1998 to establish the Diocese of Vasai (its suffragan). It enjoyed papal visits from

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

in December 1964 and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in February 1986.

Province

The

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

of Bombay includes the Metropolitan's own Archdiocese, Mumbai, and the following

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

bishoprics : *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashik The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashik ( la, Nashiken(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Nashik in the Ecclesiastical province of Bombay in India. History * May 15, 1987: Established as Diocese of Nashik from the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Poona *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Vasai The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vasai ( la, Vasaien(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Vasai in the ecclesiastical province of Bombay in India. History The history of Vasai is as old as Christianity itself. Tradition has it that St. Bartho ...

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicar of Idalcan

* Matthieu de Castro Malo, C.O. (1637-1668)

Apostolic Vicars of Great Mogul

Custodio do Pinho Custodio do Pinho (1638–1697) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Bishop of ''Hierapolis in Isauria'' (1669–1697), Vicar Apostolic of Malabar (1694–1697), and Vicar Apostolic of Great Mogul (1669–1696). ''(in Latin)''

(1669-1694), appointed Apostolic Vicar of Malabar * Fernand Palma d'Artois,

O.C.D. The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

(1696-1701) * Pietro d’Alcántara di Santa Teresa Leonardi,

(1704-1707) * Maurice di Santa Teresa Baistrocchi,

(1708-1726) * Pietro d’Alcántara della Santissima Trinità Gagna di Cherasco,

(1728-1744) * Innocent of the Presentation of Mary Strattmann,

(1746-1753) * John Dominic of St. Clara Chiavassa,

(1756-1772) * Charles of St. Conrad Vareschi,

(1773-1785) * Angelin vom heiligen Joseph Geiselmayer,

(1785-1786) * Viktor von der heiligen Maria Schwaiger,

(1787-1793) * Pietro d’Alcántara di San Antonio Ramazzini,

(1794-1820)

Apostolic Vicars of Bombay

* Pietro d’Alcántara di San Antonio Ramazzini,

(1820-1840) * Aloysius Mary of St. Teresa Fortini,

(1840-1848) * John Francis William Whelan,

(1848-1850) * Anastasius Hartmann,

O.F.M. Cap. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

(1854-1858), appointed Apostolic Vicar of Patna * Waltar Steins Bisschop, S.J. (1860-1867), appointed Apostolic Vicar of Western Bengal and later Bishop of Auckland * Johann Gabriel Léon Louis Meurin, S.J. (1867-1886), appointed Bishop of Port-Louis

Archbishops of Bombay

* George Porter, S.J. (1886-1889) * Theodore Dalhoff, S.J. (1891-1906) * Hermann Jurgens, S.J. (1907-1916) * Alban Goodier, S.J. (1919-1926) * Joachim Lima, S.J. (1928-1936) * Thomas Roberts, S.J. (1937-1950) * Cardinal Valerian Gracias (1950-1978) * Cardinal Simon Pimenta (1978-1996) * Cardinal

Ivan Dias Ivan Cornelius Dias (14 April 1936 – 19 June 2017) was an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2006 to 2011, Archbishop of Bombay from 1996 to 2006, and befo ...

(1996-2006) * Cardinal

(2006–present)

Coadjutor Bishops

* Aloysius Mary of St. Teresa Fortini,

(1837-1840) * John Francis William Whelan,

(1842-1848)

Media

The Examiner (formerly called the ''Bombay Catholic Examiner''), is a diocesan news weekly published at the Examiner Press of the Archdiocese of Bombay. It was established on 10 July 1849 by a Jesuit father. ''Tej-Prasarini'' is a media and communication institution run by the Salesians of Don Bosco of the Archdiocese of Bombay. It combines a multimedia production centre with training programmes in creativity, media and peace education. It is a member of

SIGNIS SIGNIS (official name: World Catholic Association for Communication) is a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication media, including press, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, internet, and new ...

, the World Catholic Association for Communication. The archdiocese officially opened its own Catholic Communication Centre on 5 November 2011.

Archdiocesan Board of Education

The Archdiocesan Board of Education, registered in 1985 as an Association under the Societies Registration Act –XXI / 1860, is a certified body for Catholic Institutions in Maharashtra and the Districts of Thane and Raigad. Functioning as a Federation of Schools for its first 20 years, the Consultation of Catholic Schools held in November 2004 reviewed the role of the ABE and recommended that it be an umbrella body for all Catholic Institutions, and that its role be extended to meet all the needs of Catholic Education. The Board carries out tasks like co-ordination, research and documentation, planning and liaising with the State Department of Education and other Diocesan Bodies for its vast network of Educational Institutes, and offers services in legal and administrative problems. It also publishes a bulletin called 'Shikshan Vichar'.

Controversy

In April 2012, at several police stations around the city complaints were filed by Catholic social activists against the atheist activist Sanal Edamaruku under section 295 of the

Indian Penal Code The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established ...

, which states that persons can be arrested and charged on the allegations of hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community. Edamaruku had previously made derogatory statements regarding the pope, the Catholic Church, and priests, besides claiming to have exposed the "miracle" of the dripping Jesus in Mumba. He confronted Church leaders on a live TV channel a month earlier, and also suggested that he would be arrested any moment. In early July 2012, this was borne out when police arrived at his house with the intent to arrest him. In a statement, the Auxiliary Bishop of Bambay said: "The Church is always cautious in attributing supernatural causes to out-of-the-ordinary phenomena. Whenever possible, it always tries to find 'scientific' explanations for similar events. It does not pay great attention to things like this, although it accepts the possibility that God can intervene in human life in 'extraordinary' ways: what we call 'miracles'."

Saints and causes for canonisation

* St.

Bartholomew the Apostle Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

* The Four Martyrs of Thane **St.

Thomas of Tolentino Thomas of Tolentino ( it, Tommaso di or '; 8 April 1321) was a medieval Franciscan missionary who was martyred with his three companions in Thane, India, for " blaspheming" Muhammad. His relics were removed to Quanzhou, China, and Tolenti ...

**Bl. James of Padua **Bl. Peter of Siena ** Demetrius of Tiflis * Bl. Odoric of Pordenone disinterred the relics of the Four Martyrs of Thane and carried them with him to China and Italy. * Ven.

Anastasius Hartmann Anastasius Hartmann, born as Joseph Alois Hartmann (* 24. February 1803 in Altwis, Canton Lucerne, Switzerland ; † 24. April 1886 in Kurji in Patna, India ), was a Capuchin, a missionary in India, Titular Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of Patna and ...

, Apsotolic Vicar of Bombay * Ven. Fernanda Riva * Servant of God Msgr. George Fernandes

Notes

References

* * *

Sources and external links

Official site of the Archdiocese of Bombay

* ttp://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/bomb0.htm Archdiocese of Bombay on ''GCatholic.org'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bombay, Archdiocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Religious organizations established in 1886 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay