Diocese of Varanasi
Varanasien(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Varanasi, India
Latin-rite diocese in Uttar Pradesh, India, established 11 July 1946 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Gorakhpur from the Diocese of Allahabad and promoted to a diocese in 1970. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Agra, seated at St Mary's Cathedral in Varanasi.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 14 May 1971
- Latin
- Varanasien(sis)
- Patron
- John the Baptist and Fidelis of Sigmaringen
- Annuario code
- 001000077
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 18,259
- Population
- 20,328,000
- Catholic share
- 0.1%
- Priests
- 157
- Catholics per priest
- 116
- Extent
- 21,395 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 0.9
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
- Bishop
- Eugene Joseph
- Born
- 31 July 1958
- Birthplace
- Rajakamangalam
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
St Mary's Cathedral, Varanasi stands in Varanasi, 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 Agra
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Agra.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of AgraAgra
- Diocese of AjmerAjmer
- Diocese of AllahabadAllahabad
- Diocese of BareillyBareilly
- Diocese of JaipurJaipur
- Diocese of JhansiJhansi
- Diocese of LucknowLucknow
- Diocese of MeerutMeerut
- Diocese of UdaipurUdaipur
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
In Uttar Pradesh, northern India's vast state, the Diocese of Varanasi (Latin: Varanasien[sis]) serves as a Latin suffragan see within the ecclesiastical province of Agra. St. Mary's Cathedral in the city of Varanasi is 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].