The Diocese of Darjeeling is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction or

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of the

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. It is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

in the

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of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese of Calcutta, yet depends on the missionary

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. It includes within its territory the independent

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n country of

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, where

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is practiced by a tiny minority and proselytism is forbidden. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

episcopal see is the Marian

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Cathedral, in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

state, India.

Statistics

New data from the ''Annuario Pontifico'' 2022 reveals as of 2021, it pastorally served 37,320 Catholics (2.4% of 1,535,370 total) on 9,521 km² in 60 parishes and missions with 147 priests (83 diocesan, 64 religious), 384 lay religious (98 brothers, 286 sisters).

History

* Established on 15 February 1929 as

Mission sui juris In the Canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an Ecclesial community, ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with expli ...

of Sikkim, on territories split off from Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta and Apostolic Vicariate of Tatsienlu 打箭爐) * Promoted on 16 June 1931 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 Sikkim * Promoted on 8 August 1962 and renamed after ist see as Diocese of Darjeeling / 大吉嶺 (正體中文) * Lost territory on 14 June 1997 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bagdogra.

Ordinaries

;''Ecclesiastical Superior of Sikkim'' * Father Jules Elmire Douénel,

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

(M.E.P.) (born France) (19 February 1929 – 16 June 1931 ''see below'') ;''Apostolic Prefects of Sikkim'' * Father Jules Elmire Douénel, M.E.P. † (''see above'' 19 February 1929 – ''retired'' 16 June 1931) * Father Aurelio Gianora C.R.S.M.A. † (d. 31 Dec 1995) (14 May 1937 – ''resigned'' 8 August 1962) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Darjeeling'' * Most Rev. Eric Benjamin (born India) (8 August 1962 – ''died'' 12 May 1994) * Most Rev. Stephen Lepcha (born India) (14 June 1997)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org with incumbent bio links - data for all sections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darjeeling, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in India Christianity in West Bengal Catholic Church in Bhutan

1920s establishments in Sikkim Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * ''19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * ''Dician ...

Statistics

History

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links