The Roman Catholic Diocese of Varanasi ( la, Varanasien(sis)) is a Latin suffragan

diocese 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 associa ...

in 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 seve ...

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

in northern India' s vast state

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

episcopal see is St. Mary's Cathedral in the city of

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

History

* Established on 11 July 1946 as

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Gorakhpur, on

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

split off from the

Diocese of Allahabad The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prayagraj ( la, Prayagrajen(sis)) is a diocese with its see located in the city of Prayagraj in the Ecclesiastical province of Agra in India. The Diocese of Prayagraj is spread over 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh. ...

, exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See * 17 September 1958: Renamed as Apostolic Prefecture of Benares-Gorakhpur * Promoted on 5 June 1970 as Diocese of Banaras (Benares), losing its exempt status by becoming a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agra * 14 May 1971: Renamed as Diocese of

(as the city had changed its name).

Ordinaries

(all Latin, Roman Rite) ; ''Apostolic Prefects of Gorakhpur'' * Father

Joseph Emil Malenfant Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Capuchin Friars (O.F.M. Cap.) (6 June 1947 – 17 September 1958 ''see below'') ; Apostolic Prefects of ''Benares-Gorakhpur'' * Joseph Emil Malenfant, O.F.M. Cap. (''see above'' 17 September 1958 – 1970) ; ''Bishops of Banaras'' * Patrick Paul D'Souza (5 June 1970 – 14 May 1971 ''see below'') ; Bishops of ''Varanasi'' *

Patrick Paul D'Souza Patrick Paul D'Souza (28 August 1928 16 October 2014) was a Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the peopl ...

(''see above'' 14 May 1971 – 24 February 2007),

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (1996 – 1998) * Raphy Manjaly (24 February 2007 – 2013.10.17), later Bishop of Allahabad (India, in the same province) (2013.10.17 – ...) * Eugene Joseph (2015.05.30 – ...)

References

External links

Diocese of Varanasi Official Website

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varanasi, Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India Christianity in Uttar Pradesh Religion in Varanasi Christian organizations established in 1946 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1946 establishments in India