Ecclesiastical Details

Diocese of Berhampur
Heirarchy of the Diocese
Rite:
 Latin
Population:
 8258452
 
Status:
 Diocese
Catholics:
125241
 
Founded:
 24-Jan-74
Diocesan Priests:
 78
  Total area:
51.289km2
Religious Priests:
 60
 
Province:
Calcutta
Religious Sisters:
 233
 
Region:
Bengal
Seminarians:
 39
  Patron:
St. Vincent De Paul
  Languages: OriyaKui Saura Telungu Sandali Hindi English
  Civil States: Ganjam Gajapati Nuapoda Koraput Rayagada Nabarangapur Malakangiri & Kalahandi
Contact Diocese Office :
 Bishop's House P.B. No. 27 Ganjam Dt Berhampur - 760 001 ORISSA
Telephone 1:
 9439000657 /
Fax:
 
E-Mail Office:
 bishopofberhampur@gmail.com
Website:
 
Most Rev. Sarat Chandra Nayak, Bishops of Berhampur
Name:
 Most Rev. Sarat Chandra Nayak
Designation:
 Bishops   Canonical Possession: 2006-
Telephone (P):
E-mail (P):
 
Other Present & Retired Ordinaries of the Diocese of Berhampur
 
Pilgrim Centres in theDiocese of Berhampur
 
Ecclesiastical Institutions
  
Social / Charitable Institutions / Care Centres
Educational Institutions
Parishes:
43
  
Hospitals:
2
    
Degree Colleges:
1
Major Seminaries:
1
  
Orphanages:
9
    
Technical Training Centres:
2
Minor Seminaries:
3
  
Special Schools:
2
    
High Schools:
15
Monastries:
1
  
Crèches:
   
Lower Primary Schools:
14
Convents:
52
  
Counselling Centres:
   
Presses & Media Centres:
Formation Houses:
4
  
Social Centres:
1
    
Professional Colleges:
Retreat Centres:
2
  
Dispensaries / Clinics:
23
    
Parallel Colleges:
 
Physically Challenged:
   
Higher Secondary :
10
       
Boarding Houses:
30
    
Upper Primary Schools:
14
       
HIV / AIDS Centres:
23
    
Nurseries/Pre-Primary :
5
       
De-addiction Centres:
       
          Aged & Destitute: 8        
     
       
History of the Diocese of Berhampur
  
The seed of Catholicism in Orissa can be traced back to the 17th Century when it was under the care of Madras-Mylapore. By 1845 the region of Orissa was already under Visakhapatnam diocese. In the course of time the fathers of St. Francis de Sales msfs evangelised the hilly region of Ganjam and Phulbani and the coastal belt of Cuttack and Berhampur.

After World War I in 1992 the MSFS Fathers handed over the Cuttack Mission to 4 Spanish Vincentian Fathers. Later many other Spanish Fathers joined them and the Church work progressed in leaps and bounds. The Mission of Cuttack was declared "Missio Sui Juris" by Pope Pius XI on July 18 1928. Fr Valerian Guemes cm was appointed its Administrator and Ecclesial Superior.

In 1937 Cuttack Mission was raised to the status of a diocese. Pope Paul VI by the Papal Bull 'Verba Jesus Christi' issued on January 24 1974 bifurcated the Diocese of Cuttack and out of the southern district of Orissa erected the Diocese of Berhampur as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. The Diocese of Berhampur comprises the civil districts of Ganjam Gajapati Nuapoda Koraput Rayagada Nabarangapur Malkangiri and Kalahandi.

Bp Thomas Thiruthalil cm was installed on June 23 1974 as the First Bishop of the diocese. In January 1990 he was transferred to the newly erected Diocese of Balasore.
 
Prelates of the Diocese of Berhampur
Bishops NamePrelate's StatusPeriodBishops NamePrelate's StatusPeriod
Bishop 1993 -2006 Bishop 1974 - 1989