Diocese of Darjeeling
Darieelingen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Darjeeling, India
The Diocese of Darjeeling is a Latin rite diocese in northern West Bengal, India, whose territory also includes Bhutan; it began as a Mission Sui Iuris on 15 February 1929 and was erected as a diocese in 1962, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Calcutta. Its seat is the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Darjeeling.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 8 August 1962
- Latin
- Darieelingen(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001001276
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 37,320
- Population
- 2,331,153
- Catholic share
- 1.6%
- Priests
- 147
- Catholics per priest
- 254
- Extent
- 10,880 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 3.4
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
- Bishop
- Stephen Lepcha
- Born
- 22 December 1952
- Birthplace
- Suruk
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
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Darjeeling stands in Darjeeling, 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
A suffragan of Calcutta.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of CalcuttaCalcutta
- Diocese of AsansolAsansol
- Diocese of BagdograBagdogra
- Diocese of BaruipurBaruipur
- Diocese of JalpaiguriJalpaiguri
- Diocese of KrishnagarKrishnagar
- Diocese of RaiganjRaiganj
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
A Latin Church jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in India, the Diocese of Darjeeling is a suffragan of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta while depending on the missionary Dicastery for Evangelization. Its territory takes in the independent Himalayan country of Bhutan, where Christianity is practiced by a tiny minority and proselytism is forbidden. The Marian Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Darjeeling, West Bengal state, India, serves as its cathedral episcopal see.
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].