Ecclesiastical Details

Diocese of Tezpur 
Heirarchy of the Diocese
Rite:
 Latin
Population:
 7,139,000
 
Status:
 Diocese
Catholics:
191441
 
Founded:
 16-Jan-64
Diocesan Priests:
 59
  Total area:
8684 sq. kms?
Religious Priests:
 34
 
Province:
Guwahati
Religious Sisters:
 237
 
Region:
North Eastern
Seminarians:
 26
  Patron:
St. John Bosco
  Languages: Assamese Hindi English Sadri Uraon Mundari Kharia Boro Kachari Mishing Nepali Bengali and Garo.
  Civil States: Assam: Darrang Udalguri Sonitpur Lakhimpur and Dhemaji on the North bank of the Brahmaputra; Rupahihat Kaliabor and Samuguri Subdivisions of Nagaon on the Southern Bank of Brahmaputra
Contact Diocese Office :
 Bishop's House Tezpur - 784 001 Sonitpur Dt. ASSAM.
Telephone 1:
 03712-22 01 93 / 03712-22 05 71
Fax:
22 05 71
 
E-Mail Office:
 bhousetz@gmail.com
Website:
 
Most Rev. Michael Akasius Toppo, Bishops of Tezpur
Name:
 Most Rev. Michael Akasius Toppo
Designation:
 Bishops     Period: 2007-
Telephone (P):
E-mail (P): bhousetz@gmail.com
Other Present & Retired Ordinaries of the Diocese of Tezpur
 
Pilgrim Centres in theDiocese of Tezpur
 
Ecclesiastical Institutions
  
Social / Charitable Institutions / Care Centres
Educational Institutions
Parishes:
16
  
Hospitals:
2
    
Degree Colleges:
2
Major Seminaries:
 
Orphanages:
1
    
Technical Training Centres:
2
Minor Seminaries:
3
  
Special Schools:
   
High Schools:
29
Monastries:
 
Crèches:
   
Lower Primary Schools:
37
Convents:
40
  
Counselling Centres:
   
Presses & Media Centres:
Formation Houses:
5
  
Social Centres:
1
    
Professional Colleges:
Retreat Centres:
1
  
Dispensaries / Clinics:
12
    
Parallel Colleges:
 
Physically Challenged:
   
Higher Secondary :
3
       
Boarding Houses:
59
    
Upper Primary Schools:
33
       
HIV / AIDS Centres:
   
Nurseries/Pre-Primary :
39
       
De-addiction Centres:
       
          Aged & Destitute: 1        
     
       
History of the Diocese of Tezpur
  

On May 12 1964 His Holiness Pope Paul VI raised Tezpur to an Episcopal See and nominated Bp Orestes Marengo sdb dd bishop of Dibrugarh as the Administrator of the newly erected Diocese of Tezpur. He was installed at Tezpur and took charge of the diocese on August 23 1964.


By his pastoral care Bp Marengo was able to consolidate the many new Christian communities and to bring about the over all development of the diocese before his resignation in 1969. That year the administration of the diocese was handed over to the Indian Clergy. Bp Joseph Mittathany was nominated the second Bishop of the diocese on June 26 1969 and he was ordained Bishop and installed on September 27 1969.


The independent State of Bhutan formed part of the diocese till 1975. It was separated from the diocese and attached to the Diocese of Darjeeling by the Decree "Quo Facilius" (January 20 1975) of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.


Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Imphal Manipur on April 2 1980 and transferred Bp Joseph Mittathany from Tezpur to Imphal to become its First Bishop. The see being vacant Fr Mathew Kottaram was elected as the Vicar Capitular.


Bp Rober Kerketta sdb dd who had been Bishop of Dibrugarh from 1975 was transferred to Tezpur and he took charge of the diocese on January 31 1981.


The Diocese of Guwahati was erected by the Apostolic Decree "Opitulantem Quidem Domino" (March 30 1992) of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Fifteen centres of the then Diocese of Tezpur in the civil districts of Kokhrajhar Dhubri Barpeta Nalbari Kamrup Morigaon and part of the District of Nagaon were taken to form part of the new diocese. The Diocese of Guwahati was inaugurated on August 16 1992. Reorganisation of the Ecclesiastical Province of Shillong - Guwahati took place on August 1 1994 and it provided for the creation of 3 Provinces in the region - Guwahati Shillong and Imphal. Tezpur became a Suffragan See of Guwahati along with Dibrugarh and Diphu.


The Diocese of Tezpur today comprises the civil districts of Darrang Sonitpur Lakhimpur and Dhemaji on the North Bank of the Brahmaputra; Rupahihat Kaliabor and Samuguri subdivisions of Nagaon District on the lower bank of Brahmaputra; West Kameng East Kameng Upper Subasiri Lower Subansiri West Siang and East Siang Districts of the mountainous Arunachal Pradesh.
SS Test
Prelates of the Diocese of Tezpur