Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of North India
The Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of North India was established in 1813 as part of the Church of England. It is led by the Bishop of Calcutta and the first bishop was Thomas Middleton (1814–1822) and the second Reginald Heber (1823–1826). Under the sixth bishop Daniel Wilson (1832–1858) the see was made Metropolitan (though not made an Archbishopric) when two more dioceses in India came into being (Madras, 1835, and Bombay, 1837).
Calcutta was made a metropolitan see by letters patent on 10 October 1835 and in 1930 was included in the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (from 1948 the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon) until 1970. In 1970, the Church of the Province of Myanmar, Church of Ceylon and the Church of Pakistan were separated from the province.
The Anglican dioceses in Northern India merged with the United Church of Northern India (Congregationalist and Presbyterian), the Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences), the Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, the Church of the Brethren in India, and the Disciples of Christ to form the Church of North India in the same year.
The diocese currently has jurisdiction over the corporation limits of Kolkata and the Districts of Hooghly & Howrah in the state of West Bengal. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is located in the city of Kolkata at St. Paul's Cathedral. The current bishop is the Ashoke Biswas.
List of Bishops of Calcutta
Bishops of Calcutta | |||
---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
1814 | 1823 | Thomas Middleton | Died in office. |
1823 | 1826 | Reginald Heber | Died in office. |
1827 | 1828 | Thomas James | Died in office and buried at sea. |
1829 | 1831 | John Turner | Died in office. |
1832 | 1858 | Daniel Wilson | First Metropolitan of India ex officio from 1835; died in office. |
1858 | 1866 | George Cotton | Also Metropolitan of India ex officio; died in office. |
1866 | 1876 | Robert Milman | Also Metropolitan of India ex officio; died in office. |
1876 | 1898 | Ralph Johnson | Also Metropolitan of India ex officio; retired. |
1898 | 1902 | James Welldon | Also Metropolitan of India ex officio; resigned due to ill health and returned to the United Kingdom. |
1902 | 1913 | Reginald Copleston | Translated from Colombo; also Metropolitan of India ex officio. |
1913 | 1919 | George Lefroy | Translated from Lahore; also Metropolitan of India ex officio; died in office. |
1919 | 1945 | Foss Westcott | Translated from Chota Nagpur; also Metropolitan of India ex officio. |
1945 | 1950 | George Hubback | Translated from Assam; also Metropolitan of India ex officio. |
1950 | 1962 | Aurobindo Nath Mukherjee | Translated from Delhi; first native bishop; also Metropolitan of India ex officio. |
1962 | 1970 | Lakdasa De Mel | Translated from Kurunagala; also Metropolitan of India ex officio. |
1970 | 1980 | Joseph Amritanand | Translated from Assam. |
1980 | 1999 | Dinesh Chandra Gorai | Translated from Barrackpore. |
1999 | 2008 | Samuel Raju | |
2008 | present | Ashoke Biswas |
See also
References
- CNI Diocese of Calcutta – Bishops
- Cross, F. L. (ed.; 1957) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford U. P.; pp. 686–88: "India, Christianity in"
External links
- Chapter XXVII. The Mother Diocese of Calcutta, 1815 - A History of the Church of England in India, SPCK, 1924
- Diocese of Kolkata, CNI - Official Website