Archdiocese of Calcutta
Calcutten(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Calcutta, India
The Archdiocese of Calcutta is a Latin rite metropolitan archdiocese in West Bengal, India, established on 18 April 1834 as the Vicariate Apostolic of Bengal and elevated to metropolitan archdiocese in 1886. Its seat is the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary in Kolkata. Archbishop Elias Frank succeeded Thomas D'Souza as metropolitan archbishop on 20 September 2025.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1 September 1886
- Latin
- Calcutten(sis)
- Patron
- St Francis Xavier and St Teresa of Calcutta
- Annuario code
- 001001017
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 177,354
- Population
- 49,010,000
- Catholic share
- 0.4%
- Priests
- 274
- Catholics per priest
- 647
- Extent
- 29,868 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 5.9
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Archbishop
- Elias Frank
- Born
- 15 August 1962
- Birthplace
- Kinibettu Village
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, Kolkata stands in Calcutta, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Calcutta
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of AsansolAsansol
- Diocese of BagdograBagdogra
- Diocese of BaruipurBaruipur
- Diocese of DarjeelingDarjeeling
- Diocese of JalpaiguriJalpaiguri
- Diocese of KrishnagarKrishnagar
- Diocese of RaiganjRaiganj
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
An ecclesiastical Latin Church territory of the Catholic Church in India, the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta bears the Latin name Archidioecesis Calcuttensis.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].