Ecclesiastical Details

Diocese of Khunti
Heirarchy of the Diocese
Rite:
Latin
Population:
 
Status:
Diocese
Catholics:
 
Founded:
Diocesan Priests:
  Total area:
7823 sq.kms
Religious Priests:
 
Province:
Ranchi
Religious Sisters:
 
Region:
Jharkhand
Seminarians:
  Patron:
  Languages:
  Civil States: Jharkhand: Khunti
Contact Diocese Office :
Bishop's House P.O. Khunti Dt. Ranchi - 835 210. JHARKHAND.
Telephone 1:
(06528) 22 03 89 /
Fax:
 
E-Mail Office:
khuntidiocese389@gmail.com
Website:
 
Most Rev. Binay Kandulna, Bishops of Khunti
Name:
Most Rev. Binay Kandulna
Designation:
Bishops   Canonical Possession: 2012 -
Telephone (P):
E-mail (P):
 
Other Present & Retired Ordinaries of the Diocese of Khunti
 
Pilgrim Centres in theDiocese of Khunti
 
Ecclesiastical Institutions
 
Social / Charitable Institutions / Care Centres
Educational Institutions
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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 Diocese of Khunti
 
The first Catholic Father in Chotanagpur was Fr Augustine Stockman sj whose Church work in this region began in 1868 in Chaibasa. He was the first of the band of valiant Jesuits who toiled to plant the mustard seed of the Gospel in the Quadrilateral over a period of more that 20 years; Bandgaon Kochang Sarwada and Dolda are the fruits of those early labours. The year 1885 saw Fr Constance Lievens sj the "Apostle of Chotanagpur" settle in Torpa western part of the Diocese introducing a different Church work approach with spectacular success as well as painful trials. The MUNDAS flocked to TORPA and many mission stations where the message of Christ in word and deed was spread.

Fr John Baptist Hoffmann's mission to the Mundas began in 1893. His outstanding contribution lay in his struggle for the land rights of the tribals the monumental gothic church built at Sarwada the setting up of the Co-operative Bank to free the people from the tyranny of money-lenders and his invaluable and genius work on Mundari language and culture as seen in his 16 Volume "ENCYCLOPEDIA - MUNDARICA' which he worked on after his repatriation to Germany in 1915 as a hostile alien by the British Government.

In 1928 the Archdiocese of Calcutta gave birth to the Diocese of Ranchi. Bp Louis Van Hoeck sj as the First Bishop of Ranchi continued life time efforts to promote the education of the tribals and to lay the foundations of indigenous clergy. This thrust was made more vivid by Bp Oscar Severin sj.

In 1952 Ranchi became an Archdiocese in its own right with Abp Nicholaus Kujur sj as its First Archbishop. In the four decades since the original Archdioceses was established there are now 16 dioceses of which Khunti is one of them.

The Diocese of Khunti was established by Pope John Paul II with southern territory taken from the Archdiocese of Ranchi. Khunti diocese comprises the whole civil Subdivision of Khunti and the Parish of Bandgaon in West Singhbhum district. The Catholic population of the diocese consists mostly of Scheduled Tribes chiefly Mundas in majority. Bp Stephen M. Tiru Bishop of Dumka was transferred to Khunti on May 12 1995 as the First Bishop of the new diocese.
 
Prelates of the Diocese of Khunti
Bishops NamePrelate's StatusPeriodBishops NamePrelate's StatusPeriod
Bishop 1995-