Archdiocese

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CUTTACK-BHUBANESWAR ARCHDIOCESE

The Catholic Diocese of Cuttack was part of the Diocese of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) since 1845, then missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (FSFS) established parishes and took care of the pastoral needs of the region. Due to First World War most of the French Missionaries went back to France. On 10 January 1922 a group of four Spanish Vincentian Priests (Congregation of the Missions or CM) came to Orissa and they replaced the French MSFS missionaries. On 18 July 1928 Pope Pius XI declared the Mission of Cuttack “Missio Sui Juris.” Fr. Valerian Guemes, CM was appointed its Administrator and later on as the “Ecclesiastical Superior” of this Mission. In 1937, Cuttack Mission was elevated to a Diocese and made a suffragan of Ranchi Archdiocese and Rev Msgr. Florencio Sanz Esperanza, CM was appointed first Bishop of the Diocese of Cuttack in 1938. In 1948 he retired and Rt. Rev Msgr. Paul Tobar Gonzalves, CM became his successor. On 18 April 1971 Bishop Tobar died and Fr. Vincent Urbaneja, CM was elected Administrator of the Diocese. On 24 January 1974 Cuttack Mission was divided into the Metropolitan See of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and the Diocese of Berhampur. Most Rev Msgr. Henry D’Souza was appointed the first Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. He was ordained on 5 May 1974 in Calcutta. In the same year, the Bishop’s residence was shifted from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar, the State capital. In April, 1984 Archbishop of Henry D’ Souza was called back to the Archdiocese of Calcutta. On August 11, 1985 Bishop Raphael Cheenath SVD of the Diocese of Sambalpur succeeded him as the Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath SVD retired and Bishop John Barwa SVD of Rourkela was announced Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar on February 11, 2011. Archbishop-elect John Barwa was installed Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar on April 2, 2011 at Our Lady of Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, Cuttack. The Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar comprise of 9 civil districts, namely Kandhamal, Nayagrah, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Khurda, Bouadh and Cuttck of Orissa State. There are 22 women congregation and five men congregation working in the Archdiocese.