The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Calcutta () is an ecclesiastical Latin Church territory of the Catholic Church in India.
History The archdiocese was originally erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Bengal in 1834 by Pope Gregory XVI, and renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Bengal in 1850 by Gregory's successor, Pope Pius IX.
On 1 September 1886, when the Catholic hierarchy was created in British India by Pope Leo XIII, the vicariate was elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese and renamed as the "Archdiocese of Calcutta".
Over the course of times the archdiocese was frequently divided and new metropolitan provinces were created: Ranchi, Guwahati and Patna. , the metropolitan province of Calcutta covers the state of West Bengal. The suffragan sees are: Asansol, Bagdogra, Baruipur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Krishnagar and Raiganj.
The archdiocese's cathedral, the seat of its archbishop, is the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, commonly called the "Portuguese Church". Calcutta also houses the oldest Catholic church in the area, the Basilica of the Holy Rosary, in Bandel - a former Portuguese settlement - some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the city of Kolkata.
The current archbishop of Calcutta is Elias Frank, having been appointed by Pope Leo XIV on 20 September 2025.
Territory The archdiocese of Calcutta currently covers the Districts of Bankura, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Medinipur and North 24 Parganas in the state of West Bengal.
List of Ordinaries of Calcutta
Apostolic vicars of Bengal 1834 - 1838 : Robert Saint–Leger 1838 - 1840 : Jean-Louis Taberd 1840 - 1850 : Patrick Joseph Carew
Apostolic vicars of West Bengal Source:(en) "Past and Present Ordinaries" , Archdiocese of Calcutta, Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 2 February 2012 1850 - 1855 : Patrick Joseph Carew 1855 - 1859 : Marc-Thomas Olliffe 1858 - 1864 : Sede vacante (Auguste Goiran, Administrator) 1864 - 1865 : Augustus van Heule 1865 - 1867 : Sede vacante (Honoré van der Stuyft, Administrator) 1867 - 1877 : Walter Herman Jacobus Steins 1877 - 1886 : Paul François Marie Goethals
Archbishops of Calcutta Source: 1886 - 1901 : Paul François Marie Goethals 1902 - 1924 : Brice Meuleman 1924 - 1960 : Ferdinand Perier 1960 - 1962 : Vivian Anthony Dyer 1962 - 1969 : Albert Vincent D'Souza 1969 - 1986 : Lawrence Trevor Cardinal Picachy 1986 - 2002 : Henry Sebastian D'Souza 2002 - 2012 : Lucas Sirkar 2012 - 2025 : Thomas D'Souza 2025 - Pres : Elias Frank
Saints and causes for canonisation St. Teresa of Calcutta lived and served in Calcutta.
See also Catholic Ecclesiastical Provinces in India Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of North India Roman Catholicism in India
References
External links Archdiocese of Calcutta Catholic-Hierarchy GCatholic.org