Ecclesiastical Details - Catholics India

Archdiocese of Bhopal

Rite:

Latin

Population:

4800000

Status:

Archdiocese

Catholics:

13500

Founded:

13-Sep-63

Diocesan Priests:

Total area:

20387 sqkm

Religious Priests:

Province:

Bhopal

Religious Sisters:

512

Region:

Madhya Pradesh

Seminarians:

Patron:

St. Francis of Assisi

Languages:

Hindi English Urdu

Civil States:

Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal Harda Hoshangabad and Sehore

Contact Archdiocese Office :

Archbishop's House 33 Ahmedabad Palace Road P.B. No. 88Bhopal - 462 001 MADHYA PRADESH

Telephone 1:

0755-2540829 / 0755-2544737

Fax:

25 44 737

E-Mail Office:

archdiocebpl@gmail.com

Website:

bhopalarchdiocese.in

Most Rev. Alangaram Arokia Sebastian Durairaj, Archbishop of Bhopal

Name:

Most Rev. Alangaram Arokia Sebastian Durairaj

Designation:

Archbishop

Canonical Possession:

2021-

Telephone (P):

E-mail (P):

Other Present & Retired Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Bhopal

Bishops Name	Designation	Period
	Retired	1994-2007
	Retired	2007-2021

Pilgrim Centres in theArchdiocese of Bhopal

Ecclesiastical Institutions

Social / Charitable Institutions / Care Centres

Educational Institutions

Parishes:

Hospitals:

Degree Colleges:

Major Seminaries:

Orphanages:

Technical Training Centres:

Minor Seminaries:

Special Schools:

High Schools:

Monastries:

Crèches:

Lower Primary Schools:

Convents:

Counselling Centres:

Presses & Media Centres:

Formation Houses:

Social Centres:

Professional Colleges:

Retreat Centres:

Dispensaries / Clinics:

Parallel Colleges:

Physically Challenged:

Higher Secondary :

Boarding Houses:

Upper Primary Schools:

HIV / AIDS Centres:

Nurseries/Pre-Primary :

De-addiction Centres:

Aged & Destitute:

History of the Archdiocese of Bhopal

The history of the Catholic Church in Bhopal goes back to 1785 when Salvador Bourbon a descendant of the French Royal Catholic Family of Bourbons came to Bhopal to work for the reigning Begum Mamola at Bhopal. In 1829 Bhopal was officially a part of Agra Vicariate. It was Bp Hartmann ofm. Cap who is in a very real sense the founder of the Church of Bhopal. In 1873 he acquired a plot of land from the Muslim ruler of Bhopal and built the first little church which in 1964 became the Cathedral of the newly erected Archdiocese of Bhopal.

In 1886 the Diocese of Allahabad was formed and Bhopal was then attached to this new diocese. On March 11 1935 when the Mission Territory of Indore was elevated to Prefecture to Indore. In 1958 the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh was shifted from Nagpur to Bhopal and this necessitated the creation of the new Archdiocese of Bhopal.

Bp Eugene D'Souza was transferred from Nagpur to Bhopal to be its First Archbishop. After steering the life of the Church in Madhya Pradesh for 30 years through the Archdiocese of Bhopal Archbishop Eugene laid down his office and handed over to Bp Pascal Topno sj of Ambikapur who was promoted as Archbishop of Bhopal on May 20 1994.

Prelates of the Archdiocese of Bhopal

Bishops Name	Prelate's Status	Period	Bishops Name	Prelate's Status	Period
	Archbishop	1994-2007		Archbishop	1963- 1994